It is folly to press on with the partial privatisation of the state-owned power companies when the future of the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter is unresolved, writes Brian Fallow.

Electricity retailer Mercury Energy has announced its first across the board price cuts in a decade.

Fran O'Sullivan looks at five 'nuggety issues' that look likely to hog business headlines in coming months.

Meridian Energy is considering the sale of its 50 per cent stake in the A$1 billion Macarthur wind farm in Australia.

New Zealand's ministers and officials have been given a new set of rules outlining how they can talk about listed companies.

Kiwis are loath to relinquish even a partial ownership share in national assets such as power companies - but the asset sales debate hasn't harmed the Government's polling.

A sinking mine site and Treasury's caution on asset sales are at the top of this year's "Christmas dump" of public announcements, snuck in just ahead of the holidays.

The New Zealand Maori Council has been given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court over water rights.

The Maori Council's challenge to the Government's partial asset sales plan is likely to bypass the Court of Appeal and go directly to the Supreme Court early next year in order to meet the looming deadline for the sale of Mighty River Power.

The Maori Council's High Court bid to halt the sale of Mighty River Power ended in Wellington today with a decision likely before Christmas.

The Maori Council's legal bid to block the Government's asset sales programme is based on a "misconception" about the Cabinet's role in advancing the plan, Crown lawyers argued in court yesterday.

Mark Solomon, the chairman of South Island iwi Ngai Tahu, has hit back at Labour MP Shane Jones' criticism that the tribe has "divided Maoridom".

Former Meridian Energy chief executive Tim Lusk was paid $1.37 million, including more than $800,000 in bonuses, during his last six months with the SOE.

History has once again proven tough to dislodge when it comes to the perception of the country's waterways, writes Paul Moon.

Cabinet has decided to delay a key step towards partially privatising Mighty River Power next year until the High Court has heard a Maori Council led bid blocking the sale.

The High Court's Justice Ronald Young put the ball in Cabinet's court this morning over the Maori Council's bid to halt the Mighty River Power sale.

The Maori fight against the partial sale of Mighty River Power goes to court on Tuesday after papers to block the sale were filed in the High Court at Wellington.