On 1st June, the New Zealand Government granted Petrobras an exploration permit for the Raukumara Basin. It would be nice, however, to think that a local procurement plan for New Zealand companies was at least discussed with Petrobras before they were granted a license...

Following consultation with key users of tubular sections used for steel construction and with distributors of those sections in New Zealand, the HERA Executive adopted a resolution recommending the adoption of an interim  HERA Tubular Section Levy...

Following the HERA Executive resolution to develop a procedure on how to collect a $15 per tonne levy on tubular section used in steel construction, a working group consisting of tubular section users and steel distributors developed a procedure for the collection of such a levy...

HERA learned that its research proposal with the title “ Transforming the Metals Engineering Industry – New Export Opportunities from Metals for Construction and Energy” has not been funded in the  High Value Manufacturing Processes, Products and Materials portfolio of the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST)...

HERA organized a Trade Delegation to the UK with a mission of scoping the opportunities emerging in the clean energy sector and included visiting the All Energy Conference and Tradeshow in Aberdeen, in Scotland...

The 2010 Budget was generally well received by the business leadership but with some notable exceptions. What influence does the budget have on your business and your ability to innovate?

We have another interesting case study to add to the list of recently imported steel work: HERA’s statistical analyses showed that from 2008 to 2009, New Zealand experienced an increase of $43 million in the value of imported steelwork in the single category of articles used in steel structures...

Research for industry must be driven by industry and not science providers. Would it not be better to reduce government spending on R&D and shift the money to industry to stimulate their spending in R&D?

The increased level of activity in our industry development programme and particularly in the advocacy role for local procurement rather than cheap imports will continue and has resulted in excellent membership feedback.

The chance for a successful FRST funding application has increased considerably and HERA's proposal can advance to the detailed planning stage. This is an outstanding multi-million dollar opportunity for the metal-based industry to focus on innovation for export and more generally, for productivity improvement...

Don Brash's Productivity Taskforce report has received a swift response. In my view there is good analysis in the report...

The HERA Chairman reports on a breakfast meeting hosted by the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry, an industry body similar to HERA...

Recent reports indicate that there may be an increased level of imports of fabricated structural steel work originating from Asia and particularly China. There were imports in the past but they were exceptions...

Following the abandonment of the previous government’s R&D tax credit scheme, I looked forward with great expectation to the Minister for Research Science and Technology’s announcement on the government’s priorities on research, science and technology (RS&T)...