One of the key people behind the Chinese Crafar bid has links with Pansy Wong's husband.

The organisation behind the biggest-spending public servant says his $100 lunches were necessary.

Pressure is going on the Reserve Bank to stop hiking interest rates, after today's surprise jump in the unemployment rate.

Public servants have been told to cut back on expenses after some $875,000 was spent by chief executives between July 2008 and June 2010.

New Zealand's unemployment rate surged back to a 10-year high in the last quarter, rising from 6 per cent to 6.8 per cent, a leap which surprised analysts.

New Zealand will boost the monitoring of Pacific fisheries to help an industry that loses more than $400 million a year because of poor enforcement.

For the first time in decades, a trilateral meeting between the US, Australia and NZ will be held.

The endorsement of Fiji's military regime by some Pacific countries is unlikely to affect the Pacific Islands Forum's suspension of Fiji, says Murray McCully.

Voters continue to hold long-standing doubts about Labor, and in polls consistently rate the Coalition as a superior economic manager