June 15, 2025 • 31 mins
This week on the Business Panel, Nick was joined by two second-generation Wellington business owners.
On the agenda was the state of the city, potential changes to sick leave, and the mood amongst the business community about upcoming local elections.
Listen to Dragonfly owner Tania Siladi and Nada Bakery owner Michael Gray above.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's get done, let's get down to business. You monnight, you've.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Had seven minutes past eleven. As we do every second
Monday morning at eleven o'clock, we have our business panel today.
Joining us for our business panel is Nada Bakery owner
Michael Gregor Morti.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Michael, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
How are you? Yeah? Great?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How's business? How was your weekend? Did you do plenty
to make lots of money? You're happy?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Oh, we definitely tried. The cold weather actually helps us.
It gets people out and having a bit of warm food,
so we're yeah, we're very happy.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Oh, that's good. And Dragonfly owner and Orient owner Tania Salada. Tania,
you have been in business a long time in Wellington,
same as Michael. Your father even was one of the
pioneers of Chinese dining in this country, in this city.
(01:20):
I mean I used to go as a kid to
his restaurants. I mean, you're your family's synonymous with food
and Wellington, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think so. I mean I grew up I felt
like I grew up in the hospitality industry, although I haven't.
I didn't work in it. I didn't work in it
my whole life, but I definitely grew up in it.
I mean, some of my earliest memories are of a
child being in a kitchen. One of my really early
memories is actually, and you may, I don't know if
you remember this, but the Casablanca.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Oh my gosh, well the street, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
My dad was. That's actually where my parents met. My
dad was the cook and my mum was the waitress there. Wow,
and they met. So one of the earliest memories I
had was they used to get the sacks of potatoes
in those days when they were sacks, and my older
brother and I used to build. We'd be there and
they'd make their chips out of a big one of
(02:11):
those big potato peeling machines and make chips from scratch.
But we would stack all the potato, the sacks of potatoes,
and we'd sit on them and play on them and
pretend we were had carriages and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Oh good.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I mean I grew up in kitchens pretty much,
you know, wrapping you know, one times for my dad
and his restaurant and things like that.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Those memories, Michael, you would have had those two because
obviously Nada was your father's. But I remember as a
kid going to Nada and High Ty Tie and that
would have been your dad.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Yeah, that's where that's where it all started. High Title
fifty years ago actually, so we're celebrating a fiftieth year
this year. But yeah, I've got the same memories as
my brothers and sisters. You know, we used to go
up and help out in the bakery and get told
to go stand by the car when we went so good,
and you know, it was it was just part of
family life, was business and it was something that mom
(03:04):
and dad discussed around the dinner table at home. And
you know, I think that's.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Actually the highs and lows. I mean, you know, we
all go through highs and lows and being being in
a family in business, and you know you go through
highs and lows, don't you.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, we often describe our business as like another family member.
And you know, when the good times are there, you know,
it's like having a family that's going through some great
times and when things are a bit tough, it's know,
you wrap around and give a bit of support, and
you know it is a member of your family.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
How do you I'll come to you on this time.
You're in a set, but I'm now in the flow
with Michael here on this. How would you describe current business?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
I mean, you know, oh, it's definitely competitive. We know
people out there are definitely definitely struggling out there. So
you've got to be able to give them a good
a good offering, something to be able to attract people
and just be able to show customers that you care
and really genuinely appreciate their business.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Right, don't you you? I mean, you know you've seen it.
You've seen the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Definitely seen the highs and the lows. And I completely
agree with Michael. It's business is really challenging at the moment,
but it is at the end of the day, about
taking care of your customers, listening to your customers, what
they like, what they don't like, what they need, trying
to meet that happy medium between having a product that
is of value but still making money as well. So
(04:21):
it's always a balancing act between giving the customer value
but also being able to stell, pay your staff at
the end of the day, and pay your rent and
all of those things too.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So I saw an interesting podcast last night, believe it
or not, when I was just about and trying to
get to sleep, and it was about restaurants that were discounting.
Right well, you both were. All of us are into
the food industry in some way, and it was saying,
the worst thing you could possibly do, And right now,
everybody's discounting, aren't they. Everyone's trying to give everybody the
(04:51):
best deal they possibly can, but the worst thing that
you can do, apparently, according to this podcast, The Scientific
Great Podcast, that is to discount. Michael, what are your
thoughts on that? Do you discount?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
We don't discount a lot. What we do we might
value add and use that is a way to get
people to come in, you know, and reward people for
their loyalty and that sort of thing. But your discounting
is not something that we've ever really gone. And because
we don't want to disc we don't want to make
our product for less, because at the end of the day,
we wanted to live a great quality.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That's exactly what this podcast said. Tani said that basically,
once somebody gets used to getting something at a certain price,
they think that's the value of that price, and you
can't go back on it. I mean, I know that
Dragonfly doesn't discount. I know your other companies don't discount.
What are your thoughts on that should we have to discount?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, I think it depends on the industry a lot.
So there are some industries where they have if you
have a really short life span for your product, for example,
in fashion retail and shoes and things like that, what
else are you going to do? How do you sell
a cashmere sweater if you're in the middle of summer,
So you know people will there are I think they
(06:08):
set their business up knowing that there's a certain percentage
of their stock they're going to have to discount at
a particular time of the year if you are selling
those types of seasonal items as well. For restaurants. I mean,
we do run promotions at Dragonfly, but I believe that
when we started, we started knowing that there would be
quiet times of the week, so we kind of started
(06:29):
doing promotions from day one. But the promotions are something
that have become just part of our everyday business, and
it just gives people an incentive to go out at
a certain time of the week when it's quieter, and
it's about filling those those spaces when it's a little
bit quieter. So I think there's a way that you
can discount or like Michael said, add value as well,
(06:50):
or add incentives to customers that aren't going to degrade
your brand. And I think sometimes when those places talk
about don't discounting, it's more about becoming like dare I say,
like a chemist warehouse where you feel like everything is
on sale in there, you know, and that is there.
That's the way they Yeah, that's the way they operate,
(07:11):
and that's how they and again that's to them. That's
a you know, a promotion. There are a lot of
businesses around who do that type of promotion where they
run on we always have a discount for you, and
that's how they get people in there, and then perhaps
those people will buy something that's not discounted, and that's
how So I think if you run a promotion that's
in line with your company values, then it will work
(07:32):
for you and it won't degrade the core of your business.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
That's where I have a problem, Michael, because if I
come and buy, you know, a chicken curry pie from you,
and I pay seven dollars for it, and then next
week you sell it for five dollars on special, I'd
think that I got ripped off when I paid seven
dollars for it. I mean, and I know that's how
I think, so other people must think the same way.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Yeah, and so we you know. I mean, I'm at
a cafe owner a little while ago in Auckland, and
she is very clever on the way she actually designs
her products around price points and then formulates her ingredients
and recipes around that, so that that way, through throughout
her business she's got something at sort of every different
price point. And I think that was quite an interesting
(08:13):
way of looking at the business. I mean, we generally
look at food trends and go what's coming around and
try to create something a bit different. I mean, we're
just talking before we came on here about the pistachio
trend that seems to be taking the world by storm
at the moment. Everything's turning green.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, as you said, and it's marcher for us, it's
marcher or yeah, pistachio for you mucha for us? Yeah,
everything is turning green at the moment, which is a
good color.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
What do you can you explain that to our listeners
because even I, as as someone in the industry, doesn't understand.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
You're not one of my customers, then, are you know?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I actually, if you look at our restaurant, all our
plates are brought from your car.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I know, yes, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So, yes, we are one of your customers. And I
definitely buy my bread when I'm in johnson Ville, Nada.
So don't tell me I'm not one of you. Tell
us what the screen? What do you mean by the screen?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Well, I think it was a few years ago this
whole trend of well with the pistachia, the do buy
chocolate is what really came along. And that was the
chocolate with the kataki inside and the and the pistachio paste,
and that sort of taken off. And now we've seen
lots of other brands pick up on this. We've seen
it come into mainstream. Supermarkets have started important. So it's
(09:25):
just it's just a pistachio and they're just making it
into a into a paste, right and putting in there,
and we all know the price of pistachio is one
of the more expensive nuts out there, but they're pretty
tasty too.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, so how do you use it? Ty?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
We don't actually use the pistachio at the moment, But
what we were discussing is that the other trend that's
huge at the moment, which is in which we're using
our business as MUCHA. So MUCHA is huge for us.
So MUCHA is the.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I'm going to hope you get explained, because I'm looking
at you and thinking, what the hell's butcher? If I
don't know, no one else does.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So MUCHA is A is the green is a green
tea basically, So it is a green tea. The green
tea leaves that are dry, ground dry and then ground
into a powder. So it's like a really pure form
of green tea.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And it's good for you, very good for you. How
does it do?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
It's got a it has caffeine, and it's got more
caffeine in it than coffee does, but it's a very
slow release caffeine. But it's got a whole lot of
other health benefits. So the Japanese have been drinking much
so it's what's used in their tea ceremonies and they
will drink it just as as a tea, and it's
and there's a whole tea ceremony around it. So it's
very traditional, but it does have huge health benefits. A
(10:40):
lot of antioxidants, there are different there are a lot
of different types of much of the lots of different quality.
So liken it to coffee as well. But at the
moment it's a huge trend to have it worldwide. Actually,
so there's a global shortage of March Now.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Business panel today with Michael Gray from Nada Bakery and
Dragonfly and Orient owner Tania Salada. I want to talk
to you and I'm going to start with you, Michael
on this one. The mood of Wellington. All right, give
us thirty five seconds on what you think the mood
of Wellington is right now?
Speaker 4 (11:15):
In your words, I think I think Wellington's in a
real holding pattern at the moment. We know that we're
going to have a change of mayor and all of
those sort of things that are going to come with that,
what that's going to shape up and look like, I
think people are just a little bit uncertain. So everyone
out there at the moment's really waiting to see what
(11:36):
the next sort of vision for Wellington's going to be
for the next three years.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
What do you think what's the vision for Wellington From
Michael Gray from Nada.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Oh, I think we're want to have a vibrant city.
Not to sound cliche, but we want to have a
city that people want to come to, that's easy to
get around, that's not you know, you can come from
any part of Wellington, whether you're out in Pottodo through
to the Heart Valley and you can come and you
can find a car park and get out and do
what you need to do. Somewhere you can bring the
(12:05):
family in. There's call activities happening around the place and
it's just a friendly, exciting place to be.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Right and right now. I mean I think of your
your shop. If I think of Nada Bakery, I think
at Johnsonville, which you know, I mean your main factories
in Tawa, I believe. So you know you've got and
you've got a food truck at the railway station. So
you're all over the place, you know, all over Wellington.
So what where does it feel more buoyant? Because I
went I'm just going to say, I went to a
(12:33):
cafe in Tawer or a pub more than a cafe
a couple of weeks ago and it was really busy.
It felt like vibrant. Are the suburbs better than the city?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I think they are at the moment. I mean, you're
definitely obviously seeing throughout the week more people working from home.
You know that that changed significantly for us, you know,
five years ago as everyone did sort of that whole
working from home thing, and we noticed that the suburbs
became busier throughout the week. People would pop down and
have more meetings out in those areas because people are
working from home. And so I think that's been a
(13:01):
significant shift that we've seen over the last of five years.
And I don't don't really see that changing because even
though they're trying to people back into the city, some
of these some of these businesses don't actually have the
office space to have their whole teams and every day
throughout the week.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
TARNI, that's not music to my years. What are your
thoughts give us your view of where you think the
vibe of Wellington is.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That I think there's a lot of mixed emotions in
Wellington at the moment, as there has been for a while.
I think there's a lot of anger, disappointment, frustration, but
I think there is also a lot of hope in
the city as well. Otherwise you wouldn't have, you know,
key people still living and contributing to the city.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
So we don't know any We don't know anything else.
I mean, I ask myself that question every day. You know,
why am I still here? Why it's tough?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Do we know?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
We just we love our city so much that we
just stick to it is do you reckon? That's reason.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I think there's a lot of reasons why people stay
in Wellington, and part of it is because we have
a love for the city. It is our home. It
is a beautiful city. I've lived in many cities around
the world and to come back here. I was born
and raised here and I could have stayed overseas. I
could have come back and gone to Auckland or anywhere really,
but I chose to come back to Wellington and I
(14:18):
love it here. I chose to have my businesses here,
and there are a lot of things that make the
city great and I think we've all seen the city
at its peak. Unfortunately, it is not in a good
state at the moment, but I believe it will come
back there because of people like you know, all of
us sitting here, we have a passion for it, and
(14:38):
all the people who for example, the people who are
doing Vision for Wellington, they have a passion for the
city and they are some you know, big names who
have a lot of investments in the city and want
to see it grow. So I think if we all
just keep working towards a common goal of positivity and change,
we'll get there.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
We will talk about Vision for Wellington later in the hour.
But you know, I still did you get concerned when
you heard Michael say that everything seems to be happy?
I mean, your businesses are city based, you know, are
you concerned that this suburban swell hasn't come back into
the city.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I think there's enough business to go around for everything,
and I believe if you've got a really strong offering,
that there's enough room for everyone to grow, for every
business to grow. And the city isn't that big like overseas,
that it's not difficult to get from you.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
But we make it so hard to get into town,
don't we. I mean, yes, I agree with you. If
you could park your you know, if I could park
out in the front of your orient shop and go
in and buy stuff. You can, I know I can,
But I've got to be lucky that there's a park here,
did I You.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Know, Yes, it does have some transport issues the city, definitely,
But I do believe that there's a room for everyone
in the city. Like I said, it is small, and
yes we've got transport issues. We're not alone in that.
Around the world though, you know, there's a lot of
cities with a lot of challenges. And I'm not here
to be negative. So I'm not to be positive.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
No, no, and Nora am I. I'm just asking the
question is just just try and get answers for people
that are that are thinking to you it's tough and.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
There are you know, there's lots of good initiatives that
I've heard that you know, some of the people in
politics that want to bring into the city. So it's
about finding the right things, I think to make everybody
want to come back to the city. I wouldn't want
to have a business down Lampton Key unfortunately at the moment,
I feel like that what was our golden mile and
(16:34):
what was that the crowning gloriates It just doesn't feel
as vibrant as it used to be. I think the
area around you know, College Street and those kind of
smaller streets has feels more vibrant.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Then that lane Melbourne exactly what's.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Your fantastic Yeah, and it has, and it's great for
a city like Wellington to have those like lane ways
kind of feel is exactly what is going to bring
you know, international people to the city eventually too, because
I'll discover these you know, great little stores that aren't
you know, a chain store, that have an amazing unique
offering and that makes the city unique.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're listening to the business panel with Michael Gray and
Tarnia Salada. I'm going to do something I've never done
on the show and the business panel before. I'm going
to read out a text for you both. Hi, Nick,
These business leaders have been far too kind and optimistic
in what state house city's in. I'm a business owner.
I'm really struggling. We need major international events at Skystadium
at least once a month. We need this council to change.
(17:32):
We need to remove cycle waves and restore CBD parking, urgently,
fix the base and reserve flyover. Except that's my two
cents worth. These are the absolute minimum things we urgently
need to do. Thanks Sam, and I'm going to put
it to Tarania, what do you think of that?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I am came on the show to be positive because
I believe that there is a lot of negativity out
there and I didn't think that everyone needed to hear that.
So I wanted to bring a positive voice to everything.
Everyone knows things are tough. I agree completely with the
caller who said that we do need more international events.
(18:10):
That makes a massive difference to every single person's business,
which means it's good for people we employ, which means
they can go and spend more money and you know
they can meet pay all their bills. So definitely we
need more of those. But I did come on the
panel to be positive about Wellington's positivity. If we don't,
if we're not all positive, we won't get anything done.
(18:33):
You know, it's a little bit like depression. If you
really depressed, it's really hard to make a difference for
the city. So I want to be positive. I want
to tell people things will get better, because they will.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And you've been brought on the show to be you.
That's what you've been on. We don't want you to
be what people want you to be. We want you
to be, Tanya, and you are yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Michael, your thoughts, Well, I do think we need to
get some more international events here. I remember back when
the Sevens used to be in Wellington and how much
how many pie is you sold? Yeah, and just the
excitement that it brought to the whole city. And I
went several times and they are great weekends and lots
of people that came from out of Wellington for those
(19:12):
sort of activities. But we don't have that same sort
of pool. We don't have the same amount of concerts
happening and things. So I would like to see Wellington
become attractive to those international acts.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Coming back to back here again, Okay, it's fantastic when
they had the Sevens, the groups of people dressed up
in theme running around the city. It just added so
much vibrancy and interest to the city. So international events
would be things that bring different people to the city,
so we're not relying on just Valentonian to go to things.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
This morning we briefly talked about the Prime Minister was
on with Mike Costing talking about the change in six
sick days. It looks like there could be some change.
It could go to five days or seven days, Tanya
very quickly, because I do want to move on to
some other stuff. What do you think about sick days?
Do you think ten days is too much?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think in the current environment, when people are still
concerned about COVID, that ten days for full timers is
probably not unreasonable. But I think what the issue is
is when you've got part timers and they're still getting
ten days. So to see it pro rated for part
timers would be great because if you're a part timer
and you say you have two or three part time jobs,
(20:22):
you could get up to thirty days.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
That's a good point. Michael.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah, Look, I think it depends on the culture you've
got in your business too, And we're really fortunate that
a lot of our full timers don't really take a
lot of leave. They're genuinely sick, they'll take sickly, but
ten days, you don't seem to find a lot of them.
Build it up to the twenty and that sort of thing,
so we don't find too much of an issue with that.
I think with the with the part timers, having it
(20:47):
pro rated is realistic, And yeah, I don't see why
it is how it is at the moment right.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
I want to talk to you both about Vision for Willington.
A lobby group of some of the city's biggest and
brightest down he's talked about them, have come up with
a plan to save two point eight billion dollars in
council cuts, including cutting social housing and getting rid of
the zoo, which is quite a major Michael, what do
you think of the plan? Do we do we need
the council to start cutting the cloth and working to
(21:17):
a better situation.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Absolutely, we need to. We need to be realistic about
what's right for the time right now, and it's good
to have the vision of where we're going. But and
I think we've all seen it with like the town
Hall and how that's dragged on and sometimes things actually
just pass the useful life and it's sad, but yeh,
ex you just have to move on. It gives you
(21:38):
an opportunity to create something new. And you go down
to christ Church for instance, And I'm not saying we
need to go to that extreme, but you know, you've
seen how they've how they've gone and from a forced
a force point of view to actually have to rebuild
things that are sort of fit for purpose, and you've
got to got to remember your heritage, but at the
same time you've got to got to be realistic about
what's right for the future.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Business Panel with Michael Gray and Tania Saladi. Tania, your
ideas on the vision for Wellington and what they've come
up with. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't know a lot of it in detail. I
did want to go to that meeting, but unfortunately I didn't.
I do believe that any fiscally responsible entity should constantly
be looking at ways where they can save money, and
especially in a challenging environment economic environment like we are now,
so there's always money to be saved in an organization,
(22:29):
and the council or any council should be looking at
themselves thinking how can I be more efficient? How can
I make this work better? You know, how can I
make my books work? So I don't think that, and
sometimes the hard changes decisions need to be made as well.
You know, sometimes we do need to look at it
and say is this something we really need? We love it,
(22:50):
but do we really need it? Is it going to
be good for the city in the long term? And
you need somebody really strong to come in and make
those changes and say let's do this a different way,
let's look at things differently.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
That's a great segue for my next question. We have
seven candidates running and the running to be willing to mayor,
with Ray Chung and Andrew Little as the front runners.
I think I've put Carl Turpen Barker in there as
well as probably three of them that are all neck
and neck. Michael, what do you make of the current
candidates money for the one for the mayoralty? Do is
anyone you really like? Is anyone that really excites you?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:27):
I don't know about reading about each of them. I mean,
my first view is I personally think that central government
politics don't really have a place in local body. And
I you know, and I'm not saying anything bad about
anyone that has that backing, but I really think that
when it comes down to making decisions, if you've got
an ethos that you're part of, a part of a
(23:48):
political party that's got a certain ethos, does your thoughts
get swayed to what that party's allegiances perhaps could be
rather than what's actually right for a city. And I
think that I'm more of a fan of independence and
people that are truly independence and I'm sure they might
have different views about where they sit, but but not
to have that political allegiance, I think is something that's
(24:11):
really important.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Parney. You were about to jump in then, and I'm
going to give you the opportunity to jump in now.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Think you know, I also agree. I think years and
years ago when we had councils when never affiliated to
political parties, and I felt that's when the council ran better.
I think I agree that if you have those you're
aligned to a particular political party, you have to kind
(24:39):
of toe that political line to a certain extent. And
is that necessarily going to be for the good of
the city. Is that what the city will actually mean?
And it is always good to if you can be
a non political so that you can work with any
government that's in power at the time, and you can
perhaps make more headway because you aren't politically aligned. You'll
just work with who's there.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Can I go a step further and ask you if
any of the people that are standing right now, and
I'll give you my opinion to actually excite you get
you thinking, gosh, that's what we need and wanting to
let's go with it, Michael.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Look, look, I do like what Karl's been talking about
a little bit. I like the fact that he's a
Wellington business person, has been around and lived those ups
and downs. So you know, I think Ray as Well
has got some, you know, some very interesting things to say.
I've met him on several occasions, and there's a lot
more than meat, you know, a lot more than what
you see at the surface, really with him.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
A lot more on the meat than the pie. I
don't see no woman, well, I don't know you're I mean,
you're a strong advocate for women in business.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
That's why I am a strong advocate.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Why do you stand for mere?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Because I don't have the time and I don't think
i'd be good at it either.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Sorry I should, I just know that's okay.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I don't. I've never met any of the people I
actually did meet Ray Chung once who are running, and
I think they've all got really good quality. It would
be good if you could get a combination of all
of them together, you know, as to be a candidate,
but no one at the moment as a forerunner. For
(26:21):
me personally, I think I need to do a lot
more research and listen to them thinking too.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
But I'm going to ask you this because I know
that it's something that you're passionate about. You're part of
a group of women that get together now and again
once a month. I think you get together we do
the Lunch Society. Yes, we do it once a quarter.
Very sexius onnlyful woman.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
It's what though our next one coming up? We actually
are inviting men to it.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Okay, But my next question is why is there no fantastic,
wonderful woman standing for the Wellington mayoralty.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'm not sure. Maybe they don't have enough time, or
maybe part of it is because of the backlash that
they do get. There is a lot of in politics.
Women are targeted quite a lot in terms of you know,
harassment on social media and I think that has been
in the spotlight lately and maybe that puts people off
because it isn't nice being threatened. So that could be
(27:17):
part of it as well.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
But me and you both know one thing. Women are
a lot tougher than men.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I like to think, so I know.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
So, so why you still haven't given me a goal? Well,
we could go on and on and it about it.
One of the other things that I wanted to talk
to you about. Was There was a photo over the
weekend of the mayor Tory Farno hugging people living on
the streets, with a caption all they need is a
good hug, Tania, we have got a homeless problem, especially
(27:46):
around where your businesses are and my businesses are. It's
a serious issue. Do they need anything more than a
good hug from the met Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
They definitely need more than a hug. They need a
lot of support around them. I don't know again what
the solution is for homeless people, but I do believe
that we need to support them more to get them
off the streets and look at why they are on
the streets. There is a lot of support out there,
(28:16):
but it's why are they not reaching out for that support?
Because there's a lot of support around in the city
for the homeless, and I think the bigger question is
why are they not seeking that help? Why are they
not going and getting the help that they need.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
I agree, Michael, Yeah, I definitely need more than a hug.
You know, there's a lot of people out there hurting,
and there's a lot of people that are on the
verge of going to the street too. And I think
we need to find that way too to get that support.
And I guess in a style and the language that
they know that they're going to accept. Sometimes I think
(28:51):
it could be too much of a solution designed by
someone in a suit for someone that's living on the street,
and it's not really quite the right fit.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Great, great comment. We're just discussing just before we came
on here. What we would do was someone very very
special arrived, maybe is not to Wellington before, and you're
picking them up at the airport in the morning, or
haven't been here for ten or fifteen years, a family
member coming back. Michael Gray, don't tell me you're going
to take them to Nata and give them a nice
the best pie that you've ever made, But please tell
(29:21):
me what you would do to spoil them.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
YEA.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Look, I quite often have people from overseas coming and
visiting us and you're one of the first things to
picking up from the airport, and I always got Mount
Vick and just sort of show them a lookout, show
them how how cool our little city is, how you
can see everything from you know, right around from the
airport the Hut Valley and through the city.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
And it doesn't look like a little city when you go.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
No, it doesn't, No, it doesn't. But it's just because
you're a realization that once you get down there, that
you know, we are highly compact and we've got so
much to offer. So I normally sort of to start
off there, taken down there, and they are quite often
like going take them down to like more Wilson's down
on Colla Street there, because I just it's such a
cool showcase for some of very really cool artism producers
in the area.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Right, great, great idea, Well done, Tarani, what are you
going to do well?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Well? I like to show off some of our waterfront
and our stunning coastlines. I think that part of the
appeal of the city is how we're geographically blessed, you know,
with the mountains and the ocean, and I like to
show off. Depending on the kind of person they are,
whether they're a city person or you know, like a
country person. You can't beat the South Coast, you know,
(30:31):
our red rocks and things like that. I mean, how
many how many cities can you live and where you
can go and see the seals, you know, that's just
really special. But even if they're a city person, just
the waterfront itself. It's such a beautiful city, especially on
a daylight today. I mean they're saying you can't beat
Wellington on a good day. Even Auckland is say it.
It is a stunning city and I think the waterfront
(30:53):
really shows that.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
And of course you're going to finish off with dinner
at Dragonfly.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Dinner at Dragonfly and drinks at Hummingbird.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Oh you didn't have to say that, no, but it's true.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
I was then, I was there the other night, you
know that.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yes, thank you, Thank you both for coming. And great
to meet second generation Wellington business people. It's the first
time we've had two second generation Wellington business people. Parents
been through it all. Now you guys have been through
it all. And I think that's for me. I'm a
bit emotional about it. I think it's great to have
Wellingtonian's talking business and on the show. Very proud. Thank you,
(31:29):
Thank you both for what you do and thank you
for joining us on the bank. All right, there is
Tania Saladi and Michael Gray, Dragonfly and Nadia Bakery. I'm
going to try a Nada Bakery pie. Maybe not this afternoon,
but sometime this week. Hearing from the.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's get done, let's get down to business. You monnight, you've.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Had seven minutes past eleven. As we do every second
Monday morning at eleven o'clock, we have our business panel today.
Joining us for our business panel is Nada Bakery owner
Michael Gregor Morti.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Michael, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
How are you? Yeah? Great?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How's business? How was your weekend? Did you do plenty
to make lots of money? You're happy?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Oh, we definitely tried. The cold weather actually helps us.
It gets people out and having a bit of warm food,
so we're yeah, we're very happy.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Oh, that's good. And Dragonfly owner and Orient owner Tania Salada. Tania,
you have been in business a long time in Wellington,
same as Michael. Your father even was one of the
pioneers of Chinese dining in this country, in this city.
(01:20):
I mean I used to go as a kid to
his restaurants. I mean, you're your family's synonymous with food
and Wellington, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I think so. I mean I grew up I felt
like I grew up in the hospitality industry, although I haven't.
I didn't work in it. I didn't work in it
my whole life, but I definitely grew up in it.
I mean, some of my earliest memories are of a
child being in a kitchen. One of my really early
memories is actually, and you may, I don't know if
you remember this, but the Casablanca.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Oh my gosh, well the street, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
My dad was. That's actually where my parents met. My
dad was the cook and my mum was the waitress there. Wow,
and they met. So one of the earliest memories I
had was they used to get the sacks of potatoes
in those days when they were sacks, and my older
brother and I used to build. We'd be there and
they'd make their chips out of a big one of
(02:11):
those big potato peeling machines and make chips from scratch.
But we would stack all the potato, the sacks of potatoes,
and we'd sit on them and play on them and
pretend we were had carriages and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Oh good.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I mean I grew up in kitchens pretty much,
you know, wrapping you know, one times for my dad
and his restaurant and things like that.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Those memories, Michael, you would have had those two because
obviously Nada was your father's. But I remember as a
kid going to Nada and High Ty Tie and that
would have been your dad.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Yeah, that's where that's where it all started. High Title
fifty years ago actually, so we're celebrating a fiftieth year
this year. But yeah, I've got the same memories as
my brothers and sisters. You know, we used to go
up and help out in the bakery and get told
to go stand by the car when we went so good,
and you know, it was it was just part of
family life, was business and it was something that mom
(03:04):
and dad discussed around the dinner table at home. And
you know, I think that's.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Actually the highs and lows. I mean, you know, we
all go through highs and lows and being being in
a family in business, and you know you go through
highs and lows, don't you.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, we often describe our business as like another family member.
And you know, when the good times are there, you know,
it's like having a family that's going through some great
times and when things are a bit tough, it's know,
you wrap around and give a bit of support, and
you know it is a member of your family.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
How do you I'll come to you on this time.
You're in a set, but I'm now in the flow
with Michael here on this. How would you describe current business?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
I mean, you know, oh, it's definitely competitive. We know
people out there are definitely definitely struggling out there. So
you've got to be able to give them a good
a good offering, something to be able to attract people
and just be able to show customers that you care
and really genuinely appreciate their business.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Right, don't you you? I mean, you know you've seen it.
You've seen the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Definitely seen the highs and the lows. And I completely
agree with Michael. It's business is really challenging at the moment,
but it is at the end of the day, about
taking care of your customers, listening to your customers, what
they like, what they don't like, what they need, trying
to meet that happy medium between having a product that
is of value but still making money as well. So
(04:21):
it's always a balancing act between giving the customer value
but also being able to stell, pay your staff at
the end of the day, and pay your rent and
all of those things too.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So I saw an interesting podcast last night, believe it
or not, when I was just about and trying to
get to sleep, and it was about restaurants that were discounting.
Right well, you both were. All of us are into
the food industry in some way, and it was saying,
the worst thing you could possibly do, And right now,
everybody's discounting, aren't they. Everyone's trying to give everybody the
(04:51):
best deal they possibly can, but the worst thing that
you can do, apparently, according to this podcast, The Scientific
Great Podcast, that is to discount. Michael, what are your
thoughts on that? Do you discount?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
We don't discount a lot. What we do we might
value add and use that is a way to get
people to come in, you know, and reward people for
their loyalty and that sort of thing. But your discounting
is not something that we've ever really gone. And because
we don't want to disc we don't want to make
our product for less, because at the end of the day,
we wanted to live a great quality.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That's exactly what this podcast said. Tani said that basically,
once somebody gets used to getting something at a certain price,
they think that's the value of that price, and you
can't go back on it. I mean, I know that
Dragonfly doesn't discount. I know your other companies don't discount.
What are your thoughts on that should we have to discount?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, I think it depends on the industry a lot.
So there are some industries where they have if you
have a really short life span for your product, for example,
in fashion retail and shoes and things like that, what
else are you going to do? How do you sell
a cashmere sweater if you're in the middle of summer,
So you know people will there are I think they
(06:08):
set their business up knowing that there's a certain percentage
of their stock they're going to have to discount at
a particular time of the year if you are selling
those types of seasonal items as well. For restaurants. I mean,
we do run promotions at Dragonfly, but I believe that
when we started, we started knowing that there would be
quiet times of the week, so we kind of started
(06:29):
doing promotions from day one. But the promotions are something
that have become just part of our everyday business, and
it just gives people an incentive to go out at
a certain time of the week when it's quieter, and
it's about filling those those spaces when it's a little
bit quieter. So I think there's a way that you
can discount or like Michael said, add value as well,
(06:50):
or add incentives to customers that aren't going to degrade
your brand. And I think sometimes when those places talk
about don't discounting, it's more about becoming like dare I say,
like a chemist warehouse where you feel like everything is
on sale in there, you know, and that is there.
That's the way they Yeah, that's the way they operate,
(07:11):
and that's how they and again that's to them. That's
a you know, a promotion. There are a lot of
businesses around who do that type of promotion where they
run on we always have a discount for you, and
that's how they get people in there, and then perhaps
those people will buy something that's not discounted, and that's
how So I think if you run a promotion that's
in line with your company values, then it will work
(07:32):
for you and it won't degrade the core of your business.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
That's where I have a problem, Michael, because if I
come and buy, you know, a chicken curry pie from you,
and I pay seven dollars for it, and then next
week you sell it for five dollars on special, I'd
think that I got ripped off when I paid seven
dollars for it. I mean, and I know that's how
I think, so other people must think the same way.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Yeah, and so we you know. I mean, I'm at
a cafe owner a little while ago in Auckland, and
she is very clever on the way she actually designs
her products around price points and then formulates her ingredients
and recipes around that, so that that way, through throughout
her business she's got something at sort of every different
price point. And I think that was quite an interesting
(08:13):
way of looking at the business. I mean, we generally
look at food trends and go what's coming around and
try to create something a bit different. I mean, we're
just talking before we came on here about the pistachio
trend that seems to be taking the world by storm
at the moment. Everything's turning green.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, as you said, and it's marcher for us, it's
marcher or yeah, pistachio for you mucha for us? Yeah,
everything is turning green at the moment, which is a
good color.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
What do you can you explain that to our listeners
because even I, as as someone in the industry, doesn't understand.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
You're not one of my customers, then, are you know?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I actually, if you look at our restaurant, all our
plates are brought from your car.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I know, yes, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So, yes, we are one of your customers. And I
definitely buy my bread when I'm in johnson Ville, Nada.
So don't tell me I'm not one of you. Tell
us what the screen? What do you mean by the screen?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Well, I think it was a few years ago this
whole trend of well with the pistachia, the do buy
chocolate is what really came along. And that was the
chocolate with the kataki inside and the and the pistachio paste,
and that sort of taken off. And now we've seen
lots of other brands pick up on this. We've seen
it come into mainstream. Supermarkets have started important. So it's
(09:25):
just it's just a pistachio and they're just making it
into a into a paste, right and putting in there,
and we all know the price of pistachio is one
of the more expensive nuts out there, but they're pretty
tasty too.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, so how do you use it? Ty?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
We don't actually use the pistachio at the moment, But
what we were discussing is that the other trend that's
huge at the moment, which is in which we're using
our business as MUCHA. So MUCHA is huge for us.
So MUCHA is the.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I'm going to hope you get explained, because I'm looking
at you and thinking, what the hell's butcher? If I
don't know, no one else does.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So MUCHA is A is the green is a green
tea basically, So it is a green tea. The green
tea leaves that are dry, ground dry and then ground
into a powder. So it's like a really pure form
of green tea.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And it's good for you, very good for you. How
does it do?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
It's got a it has caffeine, and it's got more
caffeine in it than coffee does, but it's a very
slow release caffeine. But it's got a whole lot of
other health benefits. So the Japanese have been drinking much
so it's what's used in their tea ceremonies and they
will drink it just as as a tea, and it's
and there's a whole tea ceremony around it. So it's
very traditional, but it does have huge health benefits. A
(10:40):
lot of antioxidants, there are different there are a lot
of different types of much of the lots of different quality.
So liken it to coffee as well. But at the
moment it's a huge trend to have it worldwide. Actually,
so there's a global shortage of March Now.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Business panel today with Michael Gray from Nada Bakery and
Dragonfly and Orient owner Tania Salada. I want to talk
to you and I'm going to start with you, Michael
on this one. The mood of Wellington. All right, give
us thirty five seconds on what you think the mood
of Wellington is right now?
Speaker 4 (11:15):
In your words, I think I think Wellington's in a
real holding pattern at the moment. We know that we're
going to have a change of mayor and all of
those sort of things that are going to come with that,
what that's going to shape up and look like, I
think people are just a little bit uncertain. So everyone
out there at the moment's really waiting to see what
(11:36):
the next sort of vision for Wellington's going to be
for the next three years.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
What do you think what's the vision for Wellington From
Michael Gray from Nada.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Oh, I think we're want to have a vibrant city.
Not to sound cliche, but we want to have a
city that people want to come to, that's easy to
get around, that's not you know, you can come from
any part of Wellington, whether you're out in Pottodo through
to the Heart Valley and you can come and you
can find a car park and get out and do
what you need to do. Somewhere you can bring the
(12:05):
family in. There's call activities happening around the place and
it's just a friendly, exciting place to be.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Right and right now. I mean I think of your
your shop. If I think of Nada Bakery, I think
at Johnsonville, which you know, I mean your main factories
in Tawa, I believe. So you know you've got and
you've got a food truck at the railway station. So
you're all over the place, you know, all over Wellington.
So what where does it feel more buoyant? Because I
went I'm just going to say, I went to a
(12:33):
cafe in Tawer or a pub more than a cafe
a couple of weeks ago and it was really busy.
It felt like vibrant. Are the suburbs better than the city?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I think they are at the moment. I mean, you're
definitely obviously seeing throughout the week more people working from home.
You know that that changed significantly for us, you know,
five years ago as everyone did sort of that whole
working from home thing, and we noticed that the suburbs
became busier throughout the week. People would pop down and
have more meetings out in those areas because people are
working from home. And so I think that's been a
(13:01):
significant shift that we've seen over the last of five years.
And I don't don't really see that changing because even
though they're trying to people back into the city, some
of these some of these businesses don't actually have the
office space to have their whole teams and every day
throughout the week.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
TARNI, that's not music to my years. What are your
thoughts give us your view of where you think the
vibe of Wellington is.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That I think there's a lot of mixed emotions in
Wellington at the moment, as there has been for a while.
I think there's a lot of anger, disappointment, frustration, but
I think there is also a lot of hope in
the city as well. Otherwise you wouldn't have, you know,
key people still living and contributing to the city.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
So we don't know any We don't know anything else.
I mean, I ask myself that question every day. You know,
why am I still here? Why it's tough?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Do we know?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
We just we love our city so much that we
just stick to it is do you reckon? That's reason.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I think there's a lot of reasons why people stay
in Wellington, and part of it is because we have
a love for the city. It is our home. It
is a beautiful city. I've lived in many cities around
the world and to come back here. I was born
and raised here and I could have stayed overseas. I
could have come back and gone to Auckland or anywhere really,
but I chose to come back to Wellington and I
(14:18):
love it here. I chose to have my businesses here,
and there are a lot of things that make the
city great and I think we've all seen the city
at its peak. Unfortunately, it is not in a good
state at the moment, but I believe it will come
back there because of people like you know, all of
us sitting here, we have a passion for it, and
(14:38):
all the people who for example, the people who are
doing Vision for Wellington, they have a passion for the
city and they are some you know, big names who
have a lot of investments in the city and want
to see it grow. So I think if we all
just keep working towards a common goal of positivity and change,
we'll get there.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
We will talk about Vision for Wellington later in the hour.
But you know, I still did you get concerned when
you heard Michael say that everything seems to be happy?
I mean, your businesses are city based, you know, are
you concerned that this suburban swell hasn't come back into
the city.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I think there's enough business to go around for everything,
and I believe if you've got a really strong offering,
that there's enough room for everyone to grow, for every
business to grow. And the city isn't that big like overseas,
that it's not difficult to get from you.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
But we make it so hard to get into town,
don't we. I mean, yes, I agree with you. If
you could park your you know, if I could park
out in the front of your orient shop and go
in and buy stuff. You can, I know I can,
But I've got to be lucky that there's a park here,
did I You.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Know, Yes, it does have some transport issues the city, definitely,
But I do believe that there's a room for everyone
in the city. Like I said, it is small, and
yes we've got transport issues. We're not alone in that.
Around the world though, you know, there's a lot of
cities with a lot of challenges. And I'm not here
to be negative. So I'm not to be positive.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
No, no, and Nora am I. I'm just asking the
question is just just try and get answers for people
that are that are thinking to you it's tough and.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
There are you know, there's lots of good initiatives that
I've heard that you know, some of the people in
politics that want to bring into the city. So it's
about finding the right things, I think to make everybody
want to come back to the city. I wouldn't want
to have a business down Lampton Key unfortunately at the moment,
I feel like that what was our golden mile and
(16:34):
what was that the crowning gloriates It just doesn't feel
as vibrant as it used to be. I think the
area around you know, College Street and those kind of
smaller streets has feels more vibrant.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Then that lane Melbourne exactly what's.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Your fantastic Yeah, and it has, and it's great for
a city like Wellington to have those like lane ways
kind of feel is exactly what is going to bring
you know, international people to the city eventually too, because
I'll discover these you know, great little stores that aren't
you know, a chain store, that have an amazing unique
offering and that makes the city unique.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're listening to the business panel with Michael Gray and
Tarnia Salada. I'm going to do something I've never done
on the show and the business panel before. I'm going
to read out a text for you both. Hi, Nick,
These business leaders have been far too kind and optimistic
in what state house city's in. I'm a business owner.
I'm really struggling. We need major international events at Skystadium
at least once a month. We need this council to change.
(17:32):
We need to remove cycle waves and restore CBD parking, urgently,
fix the base and reserve flyover. Except that's my two
cents worth. These are the absolute minimum things we urgently
need to do. Thanks Sam, and I'm going to put
it to Tarania, what do you think of that?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I am came on the show to be positive because
I believe that there is a lot of negativity out
there and I didn't think that everyone needed to hear that.
So I wanted to bring a positive voice to everything.
Everyone knows things are tough. I agree completely with the
caller who said that we do need more international events.
(18:10):
That makes a massive difference to every single person's business,
which means it's good for people we employ, which means
they can go and spend more money and you know
they can meet pay all their bills. So definitely we
need more of those. But I did come on the
panel to be positive about Wellington's positivity. If we don't,
if we're not all positive, we won't get anything done.
(18:33):
You know, it's a little bit like depression. If you
really depressed, it's really hard to make a difference for
the city. So I want to be positive. I want
to tell people things will get better, because they will.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And you've been brought on the show to be you.
That's what you've been on. We don't want you to
be what people want you to be. We want you
to be, Tanya, and you are yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Michael, your thoughts, Well, I do think we need to
get some more international events here. I remember back when
the Sevens used to be in Wellington and how much
how many pie is you sold? Yeah, and just the
excitement that it brought to the whole city. And I
went several times and they are great weekends and lots
of people that came from out of Wellington for those
(19:12):
sort of activities. But we don't have that same sort
of pool. We don't have the same amount of concerts
happening and things. So I would like to see Wellington
become attractive to those international acts.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Coming back to back here again, Okay, it's fantastic when
they had the Sevens, the groups of people dressed up
in theme running around the city. It just added so
much vibrancy and interest to the city. So international events
would be things that bring different people to the city,
so we're not relying on just Valentonian to go to things.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
This morning we briefly talked about the Prime Minister was
on with Mike Costing talking about the change in six
sick days. It looks like there could be some change.
It could go to five days or seven days, Tanya
very quickly, because I do want to move on to
some other stuff. What do you think about sick days?
Do you think ten days is too much?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think in the current environment, when people are still
concerned about COVID, that ten days for full timers is
probably not unreasonable. But I think what the issue is
is when you've got part timers and they're still getting
ten days. So to see it pro rated for part
timers would be great because if you're a part timer
and you say you have two or three part time jobs,
(20:22):
you could get up to thirty days.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
That's a good point. Michael.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Yeah, Look, I think it depends on the culture you've
got in your business too, And we're really fortunate that
a lot of our full timers don't really take a
lot of leave. They're genuinely sick, they'll take sickly, but
ten days, you don't seem to find a lot of them.
Build it up to the twenty and that sort of thing,
so we don't find too much of an issue with that.
I think with the with the part timers, having it
(20:47):
pro rated is realistic, And yeah, I don't see why
it is how it is at the moment right.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
I want to talk to you both about Vision for Willington.
A lobby group of some of the city's biggest and
brightest down he's talked about them, have come up with
a plan to save two point eight billion dollars in
council cuts, including cutting social housing and getting rid of
the zoo, which is quite a major Michael, what do
you think of the plan? Do we do we need
the council to start cutting the cloth and working to
(21:17):
a better situation.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Absolutely, we need to. We need to be realistic about
what's right for the time right now, and it's good
to have the vision of where we're going. But and
I think we've all seen it with like the town
Hall and how that's dragged on and sometimes things actually
just pass the useful life and it's sad, but yeh,
ex you just have to move on. It gives you
(21:38):
an opportunity to create something new. And you go down
to christ Church for instance, And I'm not saying we
need to go to that extreme, but you know, you've
seen how they've how they've gone and from a forced
a force point of view to actually have to rebuild
things that are sort of fit for purpose, and you've
got to got to remember your heritage, but at the
same time you've got to got to be realistic about
what's right for the future.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Business Panel with Michael Gray and Tania Saladi. Tania, your
ideas on the vision for Wellington and what they've come
up with. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't know a lot of it in detail. I
did want to go to that meeting, but unfortunately I didn't.
I do believe that any fiscally responsible entity should constantly
be looking at ways where they can save money, and
especially in a challenging environment economic environment like we are now,
so there's always money to be saved in an organization,
(22:29):
and the council or any council should be looking at
themselves thinking how can I be more efficient? How can
I make this work better? You know, how can I
make my books work? So I don't think that, and
sometimes the hard changes decisions need to be made as well.
You know, sometimes we do need to look at it
and say is this something we really need? We love it,
(22:50):
but do we really need it? Is it going to
be good for the city in the long term? And
you need somebody really strong to come in and make
those changes and say let's do this a different way,
let's look at things differently.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
That's a great segue for my next question. We have
seven candidates running and the running to be willing to mayor,
with Ray Chung and Andrew Little as the front runners.
I think I've put Carl Turpen Barker in there as
well as probably three of them that are all neck
and neck. Michael, what do you make of the current
candidates money for the one for the mayoralty? Do is
anyone you really like? Is anyone that really excites you?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:27):
I don't know about reading about each of them. I mean,
my first view is I personally think that central government
politics don't really have a place in local body. And
I you know, and I'm not saying anything bad about
anyone that has that backing, but I really think that
when it comes down to making decisions, if you've got
an ethos that you're part of, a part of a
(23:48):
political party that's got a certain ethos, does your thoughts
get swayed to what that party's allegiances perhaps could be
rather than what's actually right for a city. And I
think that I'm more of a fan of independence and
people that are truly independence and I'm sure they might
have different views about where they sit, but but not
to have that political allegiance, I think is something that's
(24:11):
really important.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Parney. You were about to jump in then, and I'm
going to give you the opportunity to jump in now.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Think you know, I also agree. I think years and
years ago when we had councils when never affiliated to
political parties, and I felt that's when the council ran better.
I think I agree that if you have those you're
aligned to a particular political party, you have to kind
(24:39):
of toe that political line to a certain extent. And
is that necessarily going to be for the good of
the city. Is that what the city will actually mean?
And it is always good to if you can be
a non political so that you can work with any
government that's in power at the time, and you can
perhaps make more headway because you aren't politically aligned. You'll
just work with who's there.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Can I go a step further and ask you if
any of the people that are standing right now, and
I'll give you my opinion to actually excite you get
you thinking, gosh, that's what we need and wanting to
let's go with it, Michael.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
Look, look, I do like what Karl's been talking about
a little bit. I like the fact that he's a
Wellington business person, has been around and lived those ups
and downs. So you know, I think Ray as Well
has got some, you know, some very interesting things to say.
I've met him on several occasions, and there's a lot
more than meat, you know, a lot more than what
you see at the surface, really with him.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
A lot more on the meat than the pie. I
don't see no woman, well, I don't know you're I mean,
you're a strong advocate for women in business.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
That's why I am a strong advocate.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Why do you stand for mere?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Because I don't have the time and I don't think
i'd be good at it either.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Sorry I should, I just know that's okay.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I don't. I've never met any of the people I
actually did meet Ray Chung once who are running, and
I think they've all got really good quality. It would
be good if you could get a combination of all
of them together, you know, as to be a candidate,
but no one at the moment as a forerunner. For
(26:21):
me personally, I think I need to do a lot
more research and listen to them thinking too.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
But I'm going to ask you this because I know
that it's something that you're passionate about. You're part of
a group of women that get together now and again
once a month. I think you get together we do
the Lunch Society. Yes, we do it once a quarter.
Very sexius onnlyful woman.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
It's what though our next one coming up? We actually
are inviting men to it.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Okay, But my next question is why is there no fantastic,
wonderful woman standing for the Wellington mayoralty.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I'm not sure. Maybe they don't have enough time, or
maybe part of it is because of the backlash that
they do get. There is a lot of in politics.
Women are targeted quite a lot in terms of you know,
harassment on social media and I think that has been
in the spotlight lately and maybe that puts people off
because it isn't nice being threatened. So that could be
(27:17):
part of it as well.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
But me and you both know one thing. Women are
a lot tougher than men.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I like to think, so I know.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
So, so why you still haven't given me a goal? Well,
we could go on and on and it about it.
One of the other things that I wanted to talk
to you about. Was There was a photo over the
weekend of the mayor Tory Farno hugging people living on
the streets, with a caption all they need is a
good hug, Tania, we have got a homeless problem, especially
(27:46):
around where your businesses are and my businesses are. It's
a serious issue. Do they need anything more than a
good hug from the met Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
They definitely need more than a hug. They need a
lot of support around them. I don't know again what
the solution is for homeless people, but I do believe
that we need to support them more to get them
off the streets and look at why they are on
the streets. There is a lot of support out there,
(28:16):
but it's why are they not reaching out for that support?
Because there's a lot of support around in the city
for the homeless, and I think the bigger question is
why are they not seeking that help? Why are they
not going and getting the help that they need.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
I agree, Michael, Yeah, I definitely need more than a hug.
You know, there's a lot of people out there hurting,
and there's a lot of people that are on the
verge of going to the street too. And I think
we need to find that way too to get that support.
And I guess in a style and the language that
they know that they're going to accept. Sometimes I think
(28:51):
it could be too much of a solution designed by
someone in a suit for someone that's living on the street,
and it's not really quite the right fit.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Great, great comment. We're just discussing just before we came
on here. What we would do was someone very very
special arrived, maybe is not to Wellington before, and you're
picking them up at the airport in the morning, or
haven't been here for ten or fifteen years, a family
member coming back. Michael Gray, don't tell me you're going
to take them to Nata and give them a nice
the best pie that you've ever made, But please tell
(29:21):
me what you would do to spoil them.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
YEA.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Look, I quite often have people from overseas coming and
visiting us and you're one of the first things to
picking up from the airport, and I always got Mount
Vick and just sort of show them a lookout, show
them how how cool our little city is, how you
can see everything from you know, right around from the
airport the Hut Valley and through the city.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
And it doesn't look like a little city when you go.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
No, it doesn't, No, it doesn't. But it's just because
you're a realization that once you get down there, that
you know, we are highly compact and we've got so
much to offer. So I normally sort of to start
off there, taken down there, and they are quite often
like going take them down to like more Wilson's down
on Colla Street there, because I just it's such a
cool showcase for some of very really cool artism producers
in the area.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Right, great, great idea, Well done, Tarani, what are you
going to do well?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Well? I like to show off some of our waterfront
and our stunning coastlines. I think that part of the
appeal of the city is how we're geographically blessed, you know,
with the mountains and the ocean, and I like to
show off. Depending on the kind of person they are,
whether they're a city person or you know, like a
country person. You can't beat the South Coast, you know,
(30:31):
our red rocks and things like that. I mean, how
many how many cities can you live and where you
can go and see the seals, you know, that's just
really special. But even if they're a city person, just
the waterfront itself. It's such a beautiful city, especially on
a daylight today. I mean they're saying you can't beat
Wellington on a good day. Even Auckland is say it.
It is a stunning city and I think the waterfront
(30:53):
really shows that.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
And of course you're going to finish off with dinner
at Dragonfly.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Dinner at Dragonfly and drinks at Hummingbird.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Oh you didn't have to say that, no, but it's true.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
I was then, I was there the other night, you
know that.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yes, thank you, Thank you both for coming. And great
to meet second generation Wellington business people. It's the first
time we've had two second generation Wellington business people. Parents
been through it all. Now you guys have been through
it all. And I think that's for me. I'm a
bit emotional about it. I think it's great to have
Wellingtonian's talking business and on the show. Very proud. Thank you,
(31:29):
Thank you both for what you do and thank you
for joining us on the bank. All right, there is
Tania Saladi and Michael Gray, Dragonfly and Nadia Bakery. I'm
going to try a Nada Bakery pie. Maybe not this afternoon,
but sometime this week. Hearing from the.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Leaders that matter. It's the Business Panel on Wellington Bonnings
with Quadovac Wellington's property management experts. Visit Quinovic dot co
dot inzad for more from News Talk said B. Listen
live on air or online, and keep our shows with
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