Perriams Pacesetter — 14 September 2026

Every Monday we post some thoughts in our Perriams Pacesetter, containing fresh thoughts for the week, the weekend just gone, and a bit of left field. Click below to read.

GEM

From humble origins to upper class in “To the Manor Born”.

Penelope Keith made her name playing upper-class snobs as a comedy actress on TV, and her masterful portrayal of Margo in the 1970s sitcom “The Good Life” was truly a gem.

An absolute classic.

RIP Margo. Died 29 June 2026, aged 86.

SPOTLIGHT

Christchurch’s Orana Wildlife Park is facing a $4 million hole in its budget.

Once an icon in Christchurch, it gave many Kiwi visitors the chance to observe wildlife we had previously only seen on TV.

The park’s reserves are forecast to run out by March 2027.

To survive, it needs support from all sources:

– Local and central government – Philanthropy – Businesses – Major donors – All of us — the community

OF INTEREST

The world is about to overshoot 1.5°C of planetary heating, according to a new United Nations report.

All reports say that we need to halt the warming.

Climate experts say we need to accelerate all efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, to keep at least some of the limits manageable. We all need to be doing our bit.

OPINION

New Zealand woke up on 12 September 2001, following 9/11, to a world order that had changed overnight.

The terrorist attacks on New York’s Twin Towers, which left nearly 3,000 people dead, proved that no nation was safe from large-scale terrorism.

If New York could be attacked that way, then every city and nation is potentially vulnerable. 🙁

HOT TOPIC

It’s all go on the train tracks out of Auckland City, where the $5.5 billion train set rolled out of the city rail station on Sunday morning.

New Zealand’s biggest-ever transport infrastructure project.

Estimates are that 19,000 passengers will be able to travel through the train network during peak hour.

A game changer — and no excuses now for being late to work in Auckland! 😊

TAX TALK

New Zealand’s average KiwiSaver balance has now ticked over $40,000 for the first time, but the research also suggests that more than a million members are not contributing to the scheme at all.

Hope you are not one of them?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

“The very taxing issue of bed taxes is still very topical.”

A number of tourist destinations are lobbying for a bed tax — a surcharge imposed on out-of-town visitors.

What’s your position on this? Are you happy to pay one?

AI

An Anthropic researcher who resigned warned that AI labs are developing technology that could “kill us all” by the end of the decade.

Now, I’m not a doomsayer, but we should not underestimate the power of this technology.

THE MARKETS

The latest Sunday Star-Times had a whole section dedicated to our housing situation — do we now have an oversupply?

There is an irony in that all the new houses being built, and those planned for the years ahead, are for new immigrants yet to arrive in New Zealand, rather than existing citizens or permanent residents.

Treasury’s estimate is that we need to increase the population to 6.7 million by 2050, and most of those people will be new arrivals.

OCR 2.5% ↑ July 2026 CPI 4.1% ↑ June 2026 Unemployment 5.3% ↓ March 2026 House Price Movement 2.3% ↑ July 2024 Rent Price Movement 4.3% ↑ July 2024

Only 102 days to go until Christmas!

PERRIAMS POWER RANKINGS – 14 September 2026

1. Better, Bigger and ‘Bokier’

South Africa over our All Blacks in Baltimore. Just too good.

2. Hayden Wilde wins Ironman

70.3 World Championship in France. The man’s a freak, and that’s after enduring and being hampered by a debilitating lung issue in 2026.

If there’s an event where you want your lungs at full throttle, it is an Ironman!

3. The Wahs

The crowd turned up!

Nearly five million Kiwis were behind them, so the country turned up.

The Wahs, however, didn’t turn up this week.

But have faith for next week’s game.

It’s still their year!