September 10, 2024 • 6 mins
The PM ponders our trade future in Asia, broadening and increasing the tax take, why we're sending Damien O'Connor on a trade trip, and the prospects for this afternoon's Presidential Debate.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wednesdays here on the Country, the PM kicks off the show.
He hasn't been on for a couple of weeks because
he's been banging on doors in Malaysia, in Southeast Asia,
Christopher Luxen, could that area potentially be a savior for us?
Could it replace China as our biggest market? Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Well, I'll get a Jamie Gidsby with you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
But look, I mean, I just say, there is just
so much opportunity for New Zealand and our products and
services in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. We hadn't had
a Prime minister visit Korea or Malaysia since twenty fifteen,
which was John Key was the last person there. And honestly,
we just need to show up and we need to.
We bought a great business delegation. There's a number of
deals and joint ventures done and all.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
That good stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
But look, I just get very excited when you're out
in that region of the Indo Pacific because he's got
rapidly rising middle classes. They're all faccated on food security
and we are gold standard. They just can't imagine having
a system and the quality of food that we have.
And there's so many opportunities. So like going to Malaysia
down with promise to Anuirre and say, right, we've got
a problem getting halal meat into Malaysia. We seem to
(01:04):
be able to deliver it well into Indonesia and into
the Middle East. It's an issue with your regulations and standards.
We need that fixed, and.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We both agreed, like let's get that affixed in two to.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Three months when we next meet at the end of
the year. And then going into Korea, it was things
like blueberries, but also five different types of dairy products
that actually with his non tap you know, we've actually
got quite good trade architecture, you know, in terms of
free trade agreements, but it's these non tariff barriers that
get in the way that make it quite frictioned as
you try and bring your products into these markets.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So no, really good.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I mean I had Miles Hurrell with us in Malaysia
and Korea and a number of other big business guys.
I'm from the primary industry sector as.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, which was great.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So it was really really good.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
We've got to hustle, we've got to double the value
of exports.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Absolutely, I'm pleased to hear you banging on doors and
Korea or South Korea and Malaysia. Interestingly, on yesterday's show,
I talked to our Labour's trade spokesperson, former Minister of Agriculture,
Damian O'Connor, who was in the Netherlands, and I said
to him, what the hell are you doing there? What
possible gain is the for New Zealand and sending you
(02:06):
to the Netherlands. Why are we paying for opposition spokespeople
to travel halfway around the world, no doubt business class
as well.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, I've got no idea about it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
The first I've heard about it from you. Now.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
He is not the trade minister, he's not representing the government,
and he's sending on any trade conversations. I would have
mentioned that for the government. You've got Tom McLay out there,
who has been non stop on planes as exactly as
I expect him to be giving our trade minister. He's
been into you five times, he's been with the Book
of Indian Trade guys five times and been there and
visited several times. Winston's been there. You know, we're obviously
(02:41):
cranking up across the region myself as well, So no,
I don't you'd have to talk to O'Connor or hipb waste.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Of money right. Anyhow, talking about money, we need more
of it to run the country. Now. Do we need
to broaden the tax space as Chippy would suggest with
the capital gains tax, or do we need to increase
the tax take off the back of a more productive economy,
or maybe do we need to do both?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Oh my god, I mean I just looked at those
comments from Hipkins over the weekend, and you know, he
wants more tax he wants more borrowing.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You know, literally, we gave these guys the keys to the.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Car and they crashed it in the ditch, and then
we're trying to get out of the ditch, and then
he wants the keys back to go do more of
the same. So we had six years of that that
aren't led an ungodly mess that we're trying to sort out.
You know, he taxed more, he borrowed more, and he
spent more, and a lot of it was wasteful spending.
And that's exactly the same respite that Labor wanted to
do over and over and over again. What we have
(03:33):
done is you've got to get spending under control, and
then you've got to grow the country.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That's why you get yourself out of a recession.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
You don't tax your way out of a recession because
you know, some of the ideas are quite wacky. I mean,
you've got Hipkins advocating for a capital gains tax, so
that had effects farms and affected small business owners, affects people.
We've got Keywi Saver accounts, you know you've got. On
the other hand, you've got Parker who's got no economic
portfolio responsiblis being on about a wealth tax or a
capital income tax. We've seen that in all way. I've
(04:00):
had hundreds of the wealthiest people leave Norway and head
to Switzerland and now they've had to put an exit
tax that when you leave the country you've got to
pay tax if you're being out.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So we've just known how that works.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What you've got to do is get spinning under control,
give people some tax, really petically low middle income workers,
which is exactly what we've done. Manage the econom well,
get interest rates down there coming down, inflations coming down,
and get the economy growing. And then you've got to
actually grow the country and grow our way out of it,
which is why we are traveling to Asia to sell
more products. To double our exports in the ex ten
years and get investment here. So you know that's just
(04:31):
a bad, bad program and bad recipe, but not surprising
from way back up.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, just a couple to quickly finish on why didn't
you bail out those two Central North Island timber mills.
I mean you give a sweetheart power deal to Tea.
Why why not to them?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, I just on t way, just so a crystal clear,
we didn't have any deal with Tay this year. That
was done on pure commercial terms between the aluminium smelter
and the electricity companies. We can just get involved in
that unlike previous times. The second thing say is, look,
we know it's incredibly tough, and I mean it is
incredibly tough for those communities and those.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
People who have lost their jobs.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
This is a big you know, it's a New Zealand
company and a joint venture with big global partners and
who have got balance sheets and capacities to manage it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But it's also a little bit of an.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Impact around electricity prices as well, wholesale electricity prices, and
that's why we've worked incredibly hard on the energy security.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But that again is a.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Function of banning oil and gas not having enough gas holdsale,
electricity prices going up in a dry year, and that
marking life very very difficult for mills and others. Having
said that, we've worked really hard, as you would have
noticed in the last few weeks to get electricity wholes
electricity prices down through the short term actions that we took,
and I spoke.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
About it fore weeks back. So look really really difficult.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
But you know, from a government perspective, we have to
get the settings right so that businesses can investments country
and can all break.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Are you taking the afternoon off or the early part
of it to watch the presidential debate? I know you're
an American political junkie. How good is it going to be?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Oh, it'll be fireworks, I suspect, but it'll be fascinating.
They've got two very different styles of debasing I suspect so,
and it's been quite intriguing watching them over the last
few years. But no, unfortunately I will be doing question
time and taking questions from the opposition parties.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Christopher Luxe and Prime Minister, thanks for your time on
the country. Bring it on this afternoon, see you later.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
See Jamie have a good day. Thank you all,
Wednesdays here on the Country, the PM kicks off the show.
He hasn't been on for a couple of weeks because
he's been banging on doors in Malaysia, in Southeast Asia,
Christopher Luxen, could that area potentially be a savior for us?
Could it replace China as our biggest market? Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Well, I'll get a Jamie Gidsby with you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
But look, I mean, I just say, there is just
so much opportunity for New Zealand and our products and
services in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. We hadn't had
a Prime minister visit Korea or Malaysia since twenty fifteen,
which was John Key was the last person there. And honestly,
we just need to show up and we need to.
We bought a great business delegation. There's a number of
deals and joint ventures done and all.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
That good stuff.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
But look, I just get very excited when you're out
in that region of the Indo Pacific because he's got
rapidly rising middle classes. They're all faccated on food security
and we are gold standard. They just can't imagine having
a system and the quality of food that we have.
And there's so many opportunities. So like going to Malaysia
down with promise to Anuirre and say, right, we've got
a problem getting halal meat into Malaysia. We seem to
(01:04):
be able to deliver it well into Indonesia and into
the Middle East. It's an issue with your regulations and standards.
We need that fixed, and.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We both agreed, like let's get that affixed in two to.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Three months when we next meet at the end of
the year. And then going into Korea, it was things
like blueberries, but also five different types of dairy products
that actually with his non tap you know, we've actually
got quite good trade architecture, you know, in terms of
free trade agreements, but it's these non tariff barriers that
get in the way that make it quite frictioned as
you try and bring your products into these markets.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So no, really good.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I mean I had Miles Hurrell with us in Malaysia
and Korea and a number of other big business guys.
I'm from the primary industry sector as.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, which was great.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So it was really really good.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
We've got to hustle, we've got to double the value
of exports.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Absolutely, I'm pleased to hear you banging on doors and
Korea or South Korea and Malaysia. Interestingly, on yesterday's show,
I talked to our Labour's trade spokesperson, former Minister of Agriculture,
Damian O'Connor, who was in the Netherlands, and I said
to him, what the hell are you doing there? What
possible gain is the for New Zealand and sending you
(02:06):
to the Netherlands. Why are we paying for opposition spokespeople
to travel halfway around the world, no doubt business class
as well.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, I've got no idea about it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
The first I've heard about it from you. Now.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
He is not the trade minister, he's not representing the government,
and he's sending on any trade conversations. I would have
mentioned that for the government. You've got Tom McLay out there,
who has been non stop on planes as exactly as
I expect him to be giving our trade minister. He's
been into you five times, he's been with the Book
of Indian Trade guys five times and been there and
visited several times. Winston's been there. You know, we're obviously
(02:41):
cranking up across the region myself as well, So no,
I don't you'd have to talk to O'Connor or hipb waste.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Of money right. Anyhow, talking about money, we need more
of it to run the country. Now. Do we need
to broaden the tax space as Chippy would suggest with
the capital gains tax, or do we need to increase
the tax take off the back of a more productive economy,
or maybe do we need to do both?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Oh my god, I mean I just looked at those
comments from Hipkins over the weekend, and you know, he
wants more tax he wants more borrowing.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You know, literally, we gave these guys the keys to the.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Car and they crashed it in the ditch, and then
we're trying to get out of the ditch, and then
he wants the keys back to go do more of
the same. So we had six years of that that
aren't led an ungodly mess that we're trying to sort out.
You know, he taxed more, he borrowed more, and he
spent more, and a lot of it was wasteful spending.
And that's exactly the same respite that Labor wanted to
do over and over and over again. What we have
(03:33):
done is you've got to get spending under control, and
then you've got to grow the country.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That's why you get yourself out of a recession.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
You don't tax your way out of a recession because
you know, some of the ideas are quite wacky. I mean,
you've got Hipkins advocating for a capital gains tax, so
that had effects farms and affected small business owners, affects people.
We've got Keywi Saver accounts, you know you've got. On
the other hand, you've got Parker who's got no economic
portfolio responsiblis being on about a wealth tax or a
capital income tax. We've seen that in all way. I've
(04:00):
had hundreds of the wealthiest people leave Norway and head
to Switzerland and now they've had to put an exit
tax that when you leave the country you've got to
pay tax if you're being out.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So we've just known how that works.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
What you've got to do is get spinning under control,
give people some tax, really petically low middle income workers,
which is exactly what we've done. Manage the econom well,
get interest rates down there coming down, inflations coming down,
and get the economy growing. And then you've got to
actually grow the country and grow our way out of it,
which is why we are traveling to Asia to sell
more products. To double our exports in the ex ten
years and get investment here. So you know that's just
(04:31):
a bad, bad program and bad recipe, but not surprising
from way back up.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Okay, just a couple to quickly finish on why didn't
you bail out those two Central North Island timber mills.
I mean you give a sweetheart power deal to Tea.
Why why not to them?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, I just on t way, just so a crystal clear,
we didn't have any deal with Tay this year. That
was done on pure commercial terms between the aluminium smelter
and the electricity companies. We can just get involved in
that unlike previous times. The second thing say is, look,
we know it's incredibly tough, and I mean it is
incredibly tough for those communities and those.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
People who have lost their jobs.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
This is a big you know, it's a New Zealand
company and a joint venture with big global partners and
who have got balance sheets and capacities to manage it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But it's also a little bit of an.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Impact around electricity prices as well, wholesale electricity prices, and
that's why we've worked incredibly hard on the energy security.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But that again is a.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Function of banning oil and gas not having enough gas holdsale,
electricity prices going up in a dry year, and that
marking life very very difficult for mills and others. Having
said that, we've worked really hard, as you would have
noticed in the last few weeks to get electricity wholes
electricity prices down through the short term actions that we took,
and I spoke.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
About it fore weeks back. So look really really difficult.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
But you know, from a government perspective, we have to
get the settings right so that businesses can investments country
and can all break.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Are you taking the afternoon off or the early part
of it to watch the presidential debate? I know you're
an American political junkie. How good is it going to be?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Oh, it'll be fireworks, I suspect, but it'll be fascinating.
They've got two very different styles of debasing I suspect so,
and it's been quite intriguing watching them over the last
few years. But no, unfortunately I will be doing question
time and taking questions from the opposition parties.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Christopher Luxe and Prime Minister, thanks for your time on
the country. Bring it on this afternoon, see you later.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
See Jamie have a good day. Thank you all,
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