Alice Peacock

Auckland

Digital Production Journalist at The Telegraph

Journalist at Freelance

Business journalist at @NewsroomNZ

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Articles

Labour MP’s bill addresses 'scam'-like foreign transfer fees

1 week ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

The Labour Party MP behind a member's bill seeking to improve transparency around international money transfer fees says the elderly and those regularly transferring cash to family abroad are disproportionately impacted by high costs.
Forbes star listing for Kiwi whose games have hit 10 billion plays

1 week ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

A fortnight after Nelson-based game designer Janzen Masden’s name appeared on one of the latest Forbes 30 under 30 lists, he’s riding a high. He’s “stoked” about the Forbes name check and his company Splitting Point is celebrating its latest game Grow a Garden becoming the biggest hit on its host site, online gaming platform Roblox. Grow a Garden’s concept is about as simple as it sounds: users buy seeds from a shop, plant them, wait for them to grow and collect the profits.
Farmers’ M. bovis compensation claims could cost MPI up to $125m

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

The potential cost to government of compensation to farmers hit by an outbreak of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has been laid out in Thursday’s Economic and Fiscal Update. The highly infectious disease, which can cause serious health conditions in cows including mastitis, pneumonia and arthritis, was first detected in New Zealand in July 2017.
Providers say KiwiSaver ‘switcheroo’ will hit low-income workers and women hardest

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

KiwiSaver providers say slashing the government contribution and increasing mandatory employee contributions will disproportionately impact low-income workers and women. Big changes are on the way for the scheme, with Finance Minister Nicola Willis unveiling changes in her Budget 2025 on Thursday that aim to make it “more fiscally sustainable”. Default employer and employee contribution rates will rise to 3.5 percent from April 2026 before increasing to 4 percent from April 2028.
Unemployment in NZ will be worst in Asia-Pacific - IMF

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

The International Monetary Fund is projecting unemployment in New Zealand will surpass pandemic peaks to reach 5.3 percent in 2025, and will remain at that level until 2027. The latest World Economic Outlook published by the fund includes a range of global growth forecasts calculated near the start of April, following the initial fallout from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Z Energy looks to ‘top up’ the supermarket conversation

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

At Z Energy’s service station in Karaka tinned tuna and crackers are selling well, as are a range of ready-to-eat meals. Eggs – a new addition to the store – are sticking around on the shelves, as is tinned fruit salad. The station’s operator Wayne Kennerley suspects the latter is not selling as well because it doesn’t have a pull tab like the spaghetti, and needs a can opener. “Suddenly it means that it’s actually not that convenient.
Kiwis opt for larger, lab-grown engagement rings as diamond prices sink

2 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

New Zealanders are increasingly picking out two, three or even five-carat diamond rings to pop the question with, as the growth in popularity and supply of lab-grown gems makes bigger jewels accessible at lower prices. The trend comes alongside a decline in the price of both mined and lab-grown diamonds, as a boom in supply of the latter, fewer weddings and a cost-of-living crisis has resulted in surplus stock and lower demand. Already have an account?
Demand for private mediation grows due to tough labour market and Govt backlog

3 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

Private mediators and advocates are reporting a surge in demand for their services because of labour market turmoil, as a tough financial climate incentivises pay dispute resolution. The upswing comes as the wait time for the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment’s free mediation service sits at 9.5 weeks, or 47 working days, down from a high of 11 weeks in February. The average wait time across the 2023/24 financial year was 30 working days, and for 2022/23 it was 18 working days.
Investors riding a rollercoaster with glamour US tech stocks

3 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

President Donald Trump’s on again-off again tariff crusade and disruption of Big Tech stocks rippling out from the United States is proving to be a headache for investors around the world. A driving factor behind market volatility is the fall and then partial recovery of the ‘Magnificent Seven’, comprising Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon.com, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla.
Early KiwiSaver withdrawals used more for financial hardship than first homes

3 weeks ago | newsroom.co.nz | Alice Peacock

KiwiSaver accounts are increasingly being accessed early to help people pay rent, debt arrears or for one-off costs such as surgery or a car than to help pay a first-home deposit. Latest figures from the Inland Revenue Department show for the first time, in all but one of the last 13 months, the number of hardship withdrawals has exceeded first-home withdrawals.