Perriams Pacesetter — 5 October 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

Daly Cherry-Evans of the Roosters kicking the match-winning field goal in the 2026 NRL Grand Final in his last ever game of Rugby League. What a way to go out. 😊

SPOTLIGHT

The botched US execution of US murderer Christa Pike.

Two cracks at a lethal injection, neither succeeded and what’s ironic about this is doctors are now spending a lot of the time trying to keep her alive.

Make sense?

Shocktober.

It just might be time to brush up on your first aid skills, in particular applying CPR and using a defibrillator.

St Johns this month are making a big drive on “3 Steps to Life”.

Something like 76% of those who have a cardiac arrest have them at home, which means we may all be faced with being able to save a loved one.

TOPICAL

Heard the term “full nesters”?

Once upon a time, the family home became an empty nest when the kids turned 18. They couldn’t wait to leave home and go flatting.

But now our twenty-plus children are moving back into the family home, motivated simply by the high cost of living, renting, etc.

Imagine what these twenty-somethings can squirrel away in savings whilst Mum and Dad cover the rest! 😊

SPORTIFY

Q: When does a boxer retire?

A: When people stop paying him.

OF INTEREST

RANKED: THE WORLD’S MOST AND LEAST TAXED COUNTRIES

OPINION

School holidays.

For all of you with kids still at school. How’s the second week of the holidays going?

I hope you have been able to encourage the kids to spend time away from their technology!

Better still enforce a phone ban at certain times of the day.

AI

Google launched a satellite carrying AI chips on 1 October, testing how they handle radiation and extreme temperatures in space.

Project Suncatcher is exploring whether solar-powered AI data centres could one day operate in orbit. It’s early days, but that takes “cloud computing” to a whole new level.

TAX TALK

On the 1st of October it was 40 years since Roger Douglas introduced GST into NZ.

What was the rate then?

1/10/1986 → 10%

1/07/1989 → 12.5%

1/10/2010 → 15%

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The first Leaders Debate is this Tuesday.

Who’s going to come out on top, but perhaps more to the point, will you be watching this?

THE MARKETS

An increase of around 60c at the pump in the last few weeks is a reminder that fuel shocks are far from over.

Every extra dollar being eaten up by fuel is a dollar that can’t be put to work for our futures.

Why is our NZ dollar falling?

1. The perception that the NZ economy is not tracking well against our other trading partners.

2. Our dollar against the Aussie is now at A81c, it’s lowest since 2013 and against our closest neighbors. Our currencies historically have usually moved broadly together against the US dollar.

So, is the world losing faith in our country’s economic management and with an election not that far away, how is our dollar going to react to that?

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 80 days to go until Christmas!

PERRIAMS POWER RANKINGS – 05 October 2026

1. The Newcastle Knights — so close yet so far away.

They came from wooden spooners last year in the NRL to be being 2 points away from taking out the trophy.

2. All Black coach Dave Rennie urges World Rugby to make scrums simpler.

Well Dave, it’s about time someone up the chain spoke out, because most of us who watch the game every weekend have been saying this now for yonks and, it is one of the very reasons why Rugby Union is losing out to Rugby League.

3. Counties have held off the Hawke’s Bay Shield challenge and can now pack the Ranfurly Shield away for the summer.

The old log of wood has still not lost its aura.