New Zealand Post is working with staff in an attempt to prevent job losses.

The State Owned Enterprise is blaming an unprecedented drop in the amount of mail being posted for 237 redundancies in the first half of the year.

During that time another 86 jobs went through natural attrition and 61 fixed term contracts were not renewed.

CEO Peter Fenton says jobs losses were the last resort.

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The Cook Islands can no longer be used a tax haven, with the signing of an agreement in Rarotonga today.

Prime Minister John Key says the deal he has signed with his Cook Islands counterpart will prevent a replay of the winebox saga in the 1990s, where complicated arrangements with the Cooks saw the evasion of millions of dollars worth of tax being paid.

Mr Key says the agreement will allow New Zealand tax authorities to seek information in the Cook Islands if someone is engaging in tax evasion.

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Labour is calling on the Government reveal how much taxpayers have lost, after an investment made by State Owned Enterprise Genesis collapsed.

Genesis Energy was a major investor in oil production company Austral-Pacific, which is being wound up by receivers.

Labour's Energy spokesperson Charles Chauvel says the public has a right to know the sum of money lost and whether Genesis Energy customers will have to pay higher prices as a result.

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Australia's unemployment rate rose to a six-year-high of 5.8 percent in June.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the number of people in jobs has fallen by 21,400.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard expects the global financial crisis to continue to affect Australian jobs.

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To the markets where the NZX50 is up ten points to 2751.

Telecom has gained two cents to $2.72 and NZX has risen 14 cents to $7.15.

The New Zealand dollar is buying 63.25 US cents, 80.57 Australian cents, 45.12 euro cents, 58.87 yen and 38.72 pence.

The 90 day bank rate is 2.83 percent and the TWI is 59.81.