title: IFRS for SMEs: A New Zealand perspective

authors: Samujh, Helen

subjects: accounting

abstract: The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in its concern to reduce the burden of compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has released its draft IFRS for small and Medium-sized Enterprises (IFSME). The draft proposes reporting standards for non-publicly accountable entities that produce general purpose financial reports. This paper presents the background to the introduction of IFSME, introduces the IASB proposal, outlines the New Zealand (NZ) financial reporting concessions (viz. The exempt company system and the differential reporting framework), and examines the implications of adoption for NZ. It is considered that few entities would be affected by the IFSME, the production and maintenance of a ‘small book’ would be costly, and report preparers need to be cognisance of both the IFRS and the IFSME. The users of financial information, identified by the IASB, rely on other forms of information in NZ to make investment and monitoring decisions. The IFSME appears redundant in the light of the existing frameworks for concessions. Further, it appears that second-class accountants and entities could emerge if the IFSME were adopted. The author concludes that the IFSME is not appropriate for NZ application and should be rejected.

text: IFRS for SMEs: A New Zealand perspective The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in its concern to reduce the burden of compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has released its draft IFRS for small and Medium-sized Enterprises (IFSME). The draft proposes reporting standards for non-publicly accountable entities that produce general purpose financial reports. This paper presents the background to the introduction of IFSME, introduces the IASB proposal, outlines the New Zealand (NZ) financial reporting concessions (viz. The exempt company system and the differential reporting framework), and examines the implications of adoption for NZ. It is considered that few entities would be affected by the IFSME, the production and maintenance of a ‘small book’ would be costly, and report preparers need to be cognisance of both the IFRS and the IFSME. The users of financial information, identified by the IASB, rely on other forms of information in NZ to make investment and monitoring decisions. The IFSME appears redundant in the light of the existing frameworks for concessions. Further, it appears that second-class accountants and entities could emerge if the IFSME were adopted. The author concludes that the IFSME is not appropriate for NZ application and should be rejected.

year: 2007-07

title: The history of transportations of stoats (Mustela erminea) and weasels (M. nivalis) to New Zealand, 1883–92

authors: King, Carolyn M.

subjects: biological invasions

abstract: This article presents an intensive original analysis of the history of the first deliberate transportations of non-domesticated European predators into southern New Zealand during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was part of one of the world’s first large-scale attempts to use alien carnivores as agents of biological control against a major vertebrate pest. In response to serious pasture damage in Southland and Otago by European rabbits, and the consequent decline in the value of wool exports, tens of thousands of the rabbits’ ‘natural enemies’, semi-tame ferrets, and pet cats collected from cities, were liberated on the worst-affected pastoral land, followed by wild-captured stoats and weasels. Against strong and repeated protests, at least 7,838 stoats and weasels were imported from Britain in at least 25 shipments between 1883 and 1892. The total cost over the decade was probably at least NZ$1–2 million in today’s money, with no effect on the numbers of rabbits. The historic details of the mustelid introductions, never previously assembled, cast an unconventional light on an old story, concerning how powerful economic interests and dominant cultural assumptions determine official policy, with implications for thinking about contemporary ecological globalisation.

text: The history of transportations of stoats (Mustela erminea) and weasels (M. nivalis) to New Zealand, 1883–92 This article presents an intensive original analysis of the history of the first deliberate transportations of non-domesticated European predators into southern New Zealand during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was part of one of the world’s first large-scale attempts to use alien carnivores as agents of biological control against a major vertebrate pest. In response to serious pasture damage in Southland and Otago by European rabbits, and the consequent decline in the value of wool exports, tens of thousands of the rabbits’ ‘natural enemies’, semi-tame ferrets, and pet cats collected from cities, were liberated on the worst-affected pastoral land, followed by wild-captured stoats and weasels. Against strong and repeated protests, at least 7,838 stoats and weasels were imported from Britain in at least 25 shipments between 1883 and 1892. The total cost over the decade was probably at least NZ$1–2 million in today’s money, with no effect on the numbers of rabbits. The historic details of the mustelid introductions, never previously assembled, cast an unconventional light on an old story, concerning how powerful economic interests and dominant cultural assumptions determine official policy, with implications for thinking about contemporary ecological globalisation.

year: 2017

title: Māori women in Southern New Zealand’s shore-whaling world

authors: Stevens, Kate

abstract: Kate Stevens and Angela Wanhalla explore the role of Māori women in Southern New Zealand’s nineteenth-century shore-whaling world. Rarely noted in accounts of the industry, Māori women were adept at sea travel and maintained knowledge and beliefs that informed practices of the whaling communities located on Kāi Tahu tribal territory. Highlighting their role as intermediaries between humans and the marine world, Wanhalla and Stevens bring forth several historical accounts of Māori women involved in the shore-whaling industry.

text: Māori women in Southern New Zealand’s shore-whaling world Kate Stevens and Angela Wanhalla explore the role of Māori women in Southern New Zealand’s nineteenth-century shore-whaling world. Rarely noted in accounts of the industry, Māori women were adept at sea travel and maintained knowledge and beliefs that informed practices of the whaling communities located on Kāi Tahu tribal territory. Highlighting their role as intermediaries between humans and the marine world, Wanhalla and Stevens bring forth several historical accounts of Māori women involved in the shore-whaling industry.

year: 2019