Today in Business: September 10, 2025

Welcome to Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business, an experimental AI podcast by the New Zealand Herald.
Each weekday, we bring you five stories, the best of the New Zealand Herald business journalism, summarised and delivered by an AI voice as an easily digestible recap.
It's Wednesday, September 10, 2025, and here are five stories you should know about.
New Zealand's annual net migration gain continued falling in the year to July, reaching just 13,100. Stats NZ figures show a net gain of 60,700 non-citizens was offset by a record net loss of 47,600 citizens. Work visa arrivals held at 32,300 annually, significantly below 2023 peaks. Student arrivals lifted to 31,000 annually, though still under previous highs. Migration peaked in October 2023 with a net gain of 135,500, before declining sharply as departures of New Zealand citizens accelerated.
In other news, Jetstar announced its biggest expansion of New Zealand and transTasman routes, pledging 660,000 additional seats. Auckland to Christchurch flights will increase from eight to 11 daily, adding 290,000 seats. Auckland to Brisbane services will soon operate twice daily, with 99,000 extra seats. Auckland to Sydney flights rise to 12 weekly, while Christchurch to Melbourne will operate daily, year-round. Jetstar will base another Airbus A320 in Auckland. Chief executive Stephanie Tully says the expansion boosts domestic capacity by 18 percent, and transTasman by 14 percent.
Meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked U.S. President Donald Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. A judge ruled Cook showed strong evidence her removal likely violated the Federal Reserve Act's "for cause" provision. Trump moved to fire Cook last month over alleged mortgage fraud before her Fed appointment, which she denies. No charges have been filed, but the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. Cook argues her due process rights were breached.
In Auckland, Finance Minister Nicola Willis addressed the Financial Services Council, voicing doubt about cross-party consensus on superannuation reform. She highlighted costs around proposals from New Zealand First to make KiwiSaver contributions compulsory and lift rates to 10 percent, estimating a $15 billion annual expense. Willis says universal pensions are already funded through taxation. She says Labour initially supported discussions last year, but later backtracked. Labour's Barbara Edmonds rejected claims her party supported reform.
And finally, on retirement savings, the Financial Markets Authority reports KiwiSaver contributions fell for the first time in the year to March 2025. Just over two million members contributed, down 1.3 percent from the prior year. Around 30 percent of members aged 18 to 65 made no contributions. Hardship withdrawals surged to $444 million, up 68 percent. FMA chief executive Samantha Barrass says the trend risks long-term inequality between contributors and non-contributors.
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