Earlier this year, a Christchurch businessman was found borrowing millions of dollars against his family trusts for his clothing company - racking up a $3-million dollar spend.

His sister prompted legal action, and two homes had to be sold as collateral.

But that brings up a question - what can we leave behind for our children and family that won't just be squandered or swindled?

Trusts and inheritance is a something most families will have to deal with when older-relatives pass, so how assured can we be that assets are protected?

Managing Director for New Zealand Family Trust Servicers, Janet Xuccoa joins Tim Beveridge for Smart Money...

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SpaceX has gone public in the biggest IPO in history, with OpenAI and Anthropic expected to follow.

Together, the three companies could be worth more than US$3 trillion. So are they the investment opportunity of a lifetime, or the next great tech bubble?

Fisher Funds portfolio manager Sam Dickie joins Nadine Higgins to break down the hype, the risks and what investors need to know.

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The Prime Minister says if the Government introduces a Bed Tax, it wants to ensure it does it the right way.

An Auckland regional deal, signed by the council and the Government, includes a promise to look into a tax next year.

Mayor Wayne Brown has been campaigning for the bed night levy on visitors - arguing it would help fund destination marketing and events.

Christopher Luxon says there are a lot of conversations to be had.

He says it's a question of whether it should be a national tax, as travellers may be frustrated with different levies in different regions.

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Labour's pushing back against claims its election promises come with an 18-billion dollar hole.

National says the party isn't detailing how it would fund major commitments, including restoring pay equity, and creating a Future Fund that could cost $13bn.

Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds told Mike Hosking that every party must front-up with the numbers, and Labour's confident it can deliver on every promise it makes.

She says all their policies are costed - and their fiscal plan will be released later this year.

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There may simply be no avoiding a spike in inflation.

Latest data from Infometrics and Foodstuffs shows grocery supplier cost inflation is rising again - reaching 2.2% in the year to May.

Many economists now expect CPI inflation to surpass four-percent in the year to June.

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Mike Hosking that a US-Iran peace deal probably won't change much in the short term.

He says businesses are waiting to see ships carrying oil moving again through the Strait of Hormuz.

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As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.

This week, What’s behind the government’s secret budget spend, Kiwis are spending more but buying the same, and there’s some good news for job numbers …. Plus why some of us could be in line for an overseas windfall.

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The Government’s plan to cut 8,700 public sector jobs and save $2.4 billion has been framed largely as a brutal cost‑cutting exercise.

In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Hamilton‑based technologist Brandon Hutcheson argues it could instead be the catalyst for a once‑in‑a‑generation redesign of how government works – if we get the AI strategy right. He admits, that's a big "if".

Hutcheson, head of quantum at Netherlands-based IT services firm HSO and co‑founder of AI specialist Aware Group, has published a detailed catalogue of 160 ways artificial intelligence could transform the public sector. The ideas range from obvious efficiency wins – such as shared AI‑enabled contact centres and common cloud HR and payroll platforms – through to more ambitious proposals like synthetic populations for policy testing and real‑time legislation impact simulators.

Rather than starting with “who can we cut?”, Hutcheson wants agencies to map their processes into four buckets: fully automatable, automatable with a transition plan, partially automatable with permanent human oversight, and human‑only functions. That discipline, he argues, is missing today, with agencies scrambling to bolt on AI tools in isolation, baking in the next wave of technical debt and eroding public trust.

The next wave of computing

He’s particularly critical of the way the cuts have been communicated – telling public servants their jobs are on the line while expecting them to lead the automation of their own roles. In his view, the smarter play is to frame AI as a way to improve citizen experience, reduce low‑value manual work, and spin out new export‑focused ventures built on New Zealand’s deep public‑sector expertise.

The episode also looks ahead to the next wave of computing that will sit behind many of these changes. Hutcheson has just returned from Microsoft’s quantum labs in Redmond, where the company is racing to build fault‑tolerant quantum machines. He explains what he saw on the ground, why quantum should already be on the radar of boards and CIOs, and how it could combine with AI to reshape industries that rely on complex simulations – from materials and manufacturing to agriculture and finance.

For business leaders, technologists and policy makers, this conversation is a roadmap to what’s possible – and a warning about the architectural decisions we make now.

Listen to The Business of Tech, streaming on iHeartRadio, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Forsyth Barr Investment Adviser Mark Richardson weighs in as anticipation grows for the biggest IPO in history.

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