Research indicates Psa-like symptoms went unreported, An economical final word, Will Air NZ pass on fuel savings to passengers and more

Disease symptoms almost identical to the kiwifruit vine-killing Psa disease have been observed by Crown research scientists in orchards since 2006 but were not reported to Biosecurity NZ, NBR has learned.

In today’s National Business Review, agribusiness reporter Jamie Ball writes that two Plant & Food Research reports prepared for Zespri in February 2007 (from fieldwork conducted in 2006) and in March 2010 found unidentified bacterium and diseases in New Zealand kiwifruit orchards that were never documented or formally reported.

Elsewhere in this week’s edition, Economically Speaking columnist Neville Bennett writes his swansong column before retiring. Professor Bennett has been writing for NBR since 1989 and still has feisty views of the world  including this: "I detest the commercial farmers in Canterbury who have removed the shelter-belts planted by wiser family-farm forerunners. Soil fertility is a major issue and climate change needs urgent attention. Why cannot we look to the dis-economies of present production: the huge trucks and trailers that pound roads and bridges, the lack of biodiversity, the dependence of massive chemical inputs, reliance on a single commodity (dried milk) rather than a value-added one?”

Have you noticed – yet another promising high-tech company was sold offshore earlier this year. Technology editor Chris Keall says Zephyr Technology founder Brian Russell was a pioneer in smart fabrics, these days called wearables. His company first focused on smart fabrics and wearable sensors for athletes and soldiers but later focused more on the healthcare market, leading ultimately to its sale to US giant Covidien, listed on the NYSE, with a market cap over $US40 billion.

Meanwhile business reporter Nick Grant reveals the Unit Titles Act 2010 governing body corporates is a teetering edifice in desperate need of some major renovations, according to legal experts who specialise in the area.

“There’s an over prescription in the legislation matched by a lot of impracticability,” says Greenwood Roche Chisnall partner John Greenwood. “There is no doubt significant reform is still required.”

Business reporter Calida Smylie asks if Air New Zealand will be passing fuel savings on to passengers, especially those travelling to the regions.

Forsyth Barr analysts think the national carrier will do well this year on the back of oil prices falling to a two-year low, and its offshore revenue doing well out of a weakening New Zealand dollar.
But Air NZ has been criticised heavily in the past for its expensive airfares to domestic regions, where it has an effective monopoly.

Then Prime Minister John Key weighed in on the debate – backed by Commerce Minister Craig Foss, who oversees competition law – and said he had told the airline it should lower regional airfares if it could.

However, when releasing the company’s annual results late last month, chief executive Christopher Luxon said the airline had not raised the cost of regional tickets for the past six years, despite increasing fuel and airport costs.

Briefly:

• In Opening Salvo, political commentator Matthew Hooton asks whether New Zealand is ready for a gay prime minister and ponders whether  the fact that he is a Wellingtonian is more of a problem for  Labour leader candidate  Grant Robertson.
• In this week’s special feature, our journalists ask if New Zealand Inc is up to to the task of fitting together the puzzle of freight, shipping, logistics and storage to keep achieving growth.
• In this week’s Ask Me Anything, Snowball Effect’s Josh Daniell reveals everything you need to know about business crowd funding.
• In Initiative Matters, Roger Partridge argues John Key’s legacy will depend on the next wave of reforms.

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