September 30, 2025 • 38 mins
Hamish McKay talks to Christopher Luxon, Bill Mouat, and Hunter McGregor.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie mckuye thanks to Brents, the starkest of
the leading agriculture brands.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Good afternoon or welcome into the country, right across the country.
Funnily enough, Hamus mckaye in for cousin Jamie mckuy different spelling,
of course, but we've taken to accepting that somewhere along
the line we may share the same gene.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Paul bo Juke and Luke.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Duke, you could say, hey, great to have your company,
big show coming. I'm pretty surely we've got to talk
quite a lot with the Prime Minister. Christopher Luxeant will
join book review time today. I am looking forward to this.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Bill Mowatt.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
That was the fabulous Maunga Rappa Station Baronga Howe in
that Central Hawks Bay. What an effort from three generations
gold under the Monouca.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
We go to China, Hunt of McGregor. Hunt of MacGregor.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Will bring us up to a few things that are
happening in China besides selling our red meat of innison,
et cetera over there. He's going to tell us what's
happening with the bit of a holiday time over there
in China at the moment, and no doubt myself and
the one and only MW Michelle will have a little
bit of banteritoo a little bit to chat about today
(01:38):
as well. And starting off yesterday, we kicked them with
a bit of Barber Streisand and Barry Gibb, you know,
sort of red wine by the fire guilty kind of music.
Akadaka ACDC today Michelle, what's with that?
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Well, I just found a little bit of a today
in history. Twenty one years ago a sign was installed
at Elaine was now named after ac DC in Melbourne
and as you to install more signs because they're worried
about all the Bogans. I guess stealing a sign all
the time, but I never get to play Bogan music
on the show that much, so I thought i'd take
advantage of it.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
Since Jamie's away the.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Other machait does he sort of ruled with an iron
fist when it comes to Bogan music. I mean, this
will be the sort of music that'll be pumping in
Alexandra at the at the Shears this weekend, won't It is.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
The sharing shed jam This one.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Absolutely, this has dropped down onto the long blow turned
for the last side.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Mackay won two three bottom tooth down music absolutely percent.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Okay Radio, it is ten after middaytime to get serious
the country. Prime Minister Christopher Luxen joins us. Now welcome,
Prime Minister. I hope I haven't interrupted you on your
way to a certain game of cricket or anything like that.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
By chance you haven't, Hamish. But it's going to be
quite a competition that one, isn't that It's.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Going to be, yeah, and I'm looking forward to It
feels a funny time of the year to be cracking
into it.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But that's all good.
Speaker 7 (02:56):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Look the government's energy package out this morning, an announcement
hot off the press boosting energy supply competition.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
What does this mean for the sort of the.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I guess the Danny Wurker farmer or the tie happy
mother of five.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
Look, I mean, in the country that's got lots of
natural resources, we shouldn't have an energy challenge, right, but
yet we have. And that's because the last lot did
that oil and gas ban and as a result, that
scared off a lot of investors and as a result
they stopped exploring gas. And as a result, when we
have dry years, we really need to lean on gas
and argue with some coal as well. So we want
(03:31):
to make sure we've got affordable, abundant electricity. And what
we're doing is saying, yep, we're going to double the
amount of renewables, and we've done a lot of things
on consenting to speed all that up. And there's a
heap of electricity coming into the market through renewables, which
is fantastic, But even so in that last fifteen percent
that we need, which will still be gas for many
decades ahead, we've.
Speaker 7 (03:50):
Got to encourage people to explore for gas.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
We've got a whole bunch of incentives around that we're
going to look at actually even importing gas. And so
the push came to shove. We've got abundant electricity and
gas available, and we're also just saying to the energy
companies that look, you may need to invest in what's
called firming or therm or electricity, and actually we're going
to maintain our shareholding in these Gen Taylor companies, but
(04:13):
we actually if you want to raise more money to
make those investments in that capital, we will support you
in doing that and we will make that equivalent investments
as well to support you with that and maintain our shareholding.
So there's just a number of technical things, but what
we're trying to do here is really clean up the
mess that we were left with, which is in a
country like New Zealand, we shouldn't have an energy crisis
or challenge, and we've got to get these things set
(04:34):
up right for the long term so we don't end
up closing down businesses which we want to keep going
in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
End of the day, well when the monthly bill paying
day comes, when they expect that, we'll hope that this
might make an impact.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
Yeah, look, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
I mean, it'll ultimately be determined by the electricity companies,
but we're doing everything we can to put down a
pressure on prices into what's called flatten the forward curves,
meaning that basically, because there's always this risk of a
flat year, that actually is what spikes and drives electricity
prices up, and we've got to do everything we can
to put that downward pressure on and then that reflects
(05:11):
is ultimately through to consumers. But yeah, I can't I
mean that that will be determined by them, but I'm
doing everything we can as a government to get the
settings right, to get the framework right, to make as
much investment as possible, to turn on as much supply
as we possibly can, and to fect some of those
structural problems that we've had with thermal or firming electricity.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Okay, you've been pushing pretty hard in terms of a
bipartisan arrangement for gas exploration chipping away you could say
at that without any luck.
Speaker 7 (05:42):
Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's really important.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
I mean, it's all very easy to go out there
in twenty eighteen and say we're going to end oil
and gas.
Speaker 7 (05:48):
But the flip side was, if you're a big.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Company that's been down in New Zealand and you've got
operations all around the world, you basically send a signal
back to investors to say, look, we're not interested in
your money, your investment and expiration for gas and running
gas fields in New Zealand, and that as a result
last I'm asking Hipkins, and I've spoken about this publicly
many times, and say, look, that should be a bipartisan thing.
Speaker 7 (06:11):
That's a New Zealand thing, that's not a political thing.
We are going to need gas for decades ahead of us.
Speaker 6 (06:17):
We should be encouraging those investors to come back into
the market to make sure that they can explore and
find gas and operate gas fields, which we need. And
so it's a serious issue with some serious consequences for
all New Zealanders. And so I'm just asking him to say, Okay,
I'm spirited by partisanship, which we've reached out on education,
on public private partnerships, on infrastructure.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
This is a classic where for at least.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
For the next ten years, just confirm that the settings
and the rules will change, the same, will stay the same,
so that you don't actually have investors who are trying
to put hundreds of millions of dollars into New Zealand
and having all those investments frustrated by changing governments and
changing policies.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Are you having any luck or is it a dead duck?
Speaker 6 (06:57):
Well, I think we should be focused on doing everything
they can to keep the lights on and keep prices
low for lower, middle income working New Zelanders and all
of us. And so let's see what they say, and
I hope that they come to just a sensible decision.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
But I've talked about it public.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
They aways wanted to formalize that and actually get a
formal response from labor to say we're up for that
or not up for that?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, the earthquake prone building systems classification overhaul, I mean
that seems like a speaking of sensible decisions and a
bit of a no brainer.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Yeah, really common sensible stuff. You know, it was a
system that was set up with good intentions back and
back after the earthquakes, but actually in practice hasn't worked.
And you can go round to a number of towns,
whether you're in Morerinsville or Fielding or Martin or lots
of different places I can think of, I've visited where
you've got de relict buildings because actually the cost of
remediation is greater than the cost of the building. As
(07:51):
a result, developers just owners end up just walking away
from those buildings, they cause more damage themselves. So we've
got the balance right here, which is we've got to
protect human life, make sure people are as safe as
they possibly can be. We're going to be much more
specific on what type of remediation is needed to certain
types of buildings. And then obviously you know there's about
eight billion dollars in remediation and demolishing costs that we
(08:13):
think we will save these islanders. And of course that
means that those building owners can get on and spend
that money and other projects and which we want them
to do so, creating jobs and opportunities for tradings and others.
So at the moment, it's between so much paralysis because
you've got all these vacant, derelict buildings sitting there because
the cost of remediation is out of whack, and it
turns out the risk actually is we're not managing the
(08:34):
risk well as to where the actual earthquakes I likely
to happen and what's low, medium, and high earthquake zones.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Interesting you mentioned Fielding, I know, just along from Sue's
Redmain's office as Capital these beautiful old buildings and they
are so I love derected yea, and thinking I'm even
thinking like a little bit of a project, an apartment
sort of conversion to them because of the facade and
everything and what they're made of must be fantastic.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I mean, so yeah, yeah, the opportunity is great, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (09:02):
Hey much.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
I mean the thing is that you know, in the past,
it has been like you've got to totally retrofit that
whole building so that that existing building is at the
same standard as a brand new building build today.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
So all new buildings obviously got to.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Meet the building code going forward from here, which is
great and it's a good standard. But actually what you
might need to do there is actually, for example, secure
the facade. You know, that's so that actually the risk
there is actually the facade crumbles and actually does bricks
for onto potential pedestrian and an earthquake scenario on the footpath.
Speaker 7 (09:28):
So if you have secured that facade, that may be
what you need to be able to do. You might
do a targeted retrofit.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
You might just need to register the building on a
register so that we've got some visibility of it, but
not actually need to do remediation. So there's a series
of just I think, just very common sense work. We
had broad discussion with engineers, with building owners, with the public,
with earthquake experts, all those.
Speaker 7 (09:52):
Kinds of things. So I think it's just really sensible
work that's taking place now.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
The next sort of talked about ACR CAT and wh
I other world with Tremaine's real estate. I you know,
some some people say, hey, miss you'd love that it's
going to a business or boom but at the end
of the day, we just don't want to see property madness,
do we. I mean, I hope there's some more sort
of I don't know, I hope there's some more common
sense around lower interest rates.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Should that.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
Yeah, Look, I think you're seeing a government that sort
of says, look, you can't have what we had at
the beginning of twenty twenty two, which is we had
a thirty percent increase in house prices in a single year.
Right that everyone knows across the z Ellen that is unsustainable. Equally,
interest rates are coming down because inflation's coming down because
we're getting a grip on spending, which is what was
driving the reverse of that under labor. So look, I mean,
(10:39):
the good news is, even if you were there today,
the reality is that forty two percent of New Zealanders
are refixing or refinancing their mortgages within the next six months.
And if you've got an average mortgage of five hundred
thousand dollars, that could be up to six hundred and
sixty dollars a month.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
You know that you're actually out back.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
In your back pocket with those lower interest rates. So look,
you know, as you've heard upon Ymus and projecting we
have two more rate cuts down Christmas, and so as
to what they'll be, that'll be up to the Reserve Bank.
But you know that's important and already I just you know,
you're seeing the benefits of falling interest rates, falling inflation.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
Certainly.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
You know what's happening in the rural communities. Our primary
industry sectors having record years. You know, places like christ Church,
South Island, they have plenty doing well. Our real challenges
are sitting still, as I say, in a two speed recovery,
sitting in Allcondon. We've got to make sure we get
all compiled up. And that's coming, and it will come
as those interest rates are transmitted through to people who
have their money to spend back in the economy.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Prime minison.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
When you're getting around the country, around the traps and
at the fielding sale yards, I'm seeing you know, lamb
turning into hogates selling for two hundred and ninety two dollars.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
A farm is smiling a bit more and moaning a
little less.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
Yeah, Well, farmer confidence is the highest it's been since
something twenty seventeen, so over the last ten years.
Speaker 7 (11:53):
So that's really fantastic. We know farmers are doing well.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
We've got I think dairies up thirteen percent, We've got
read meat up eight or nine, we've got horticulture up
nineteen percent, even walls having in better years than it's
had in recent time. So you know, all across the
board you're saying it too well. You're seeing from Terra
with the payouts return of the consumer brands business farmers
will oftenly come back through the shaholders as well and farmers,
(12:17):
So all of that's good. We've got investment boost out
there to try and get farmers to spend more on
plant capital equipment as they get those returns coming through.
The profitability outlooks for farmers that are profitable as the
highest it's been in a long time, so for ten
years or so. So you know that all of that
says that, you know, that's why the rural community, as
as I've always said, is the backbone ovigalent economy.
Speaker 7 (12:37):
It's the ones that are powering us out of the
recession again.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
And all our exports are going gangbusters around the world,
particularly in primary industry, but also in services and technology
and other things as well. So yeah, I know it's
been a very difficult, very tough time. We've had to
take our medicine to deal with economic vandalism and mess
that we were left with. But we're cleaning that up,
sorting that out, and now we've got to see recovery
(13:01):
start to come through in Auckland and Wellington and other
parts of the economy and that's starting to happen.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And finally, Prime Minister the last but by no means
least sad news today and iconic New Zealander passing away
Nigel Letter at just the age of fifty eight, somebody
who made our lives more interesting and certainly made us.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
Think, yeah, look, I mean that's really sad news. I
just said that too, and I just think, you know,
incredible guy. Actually, I watched some of the TV specials Amanda,
and I read his books on raising kids and teenagers
and he just had a different way of expressing things
that were you know, sort of sensible and next year
and provoking you to think about something slightly differently. And
(13:39):
so yeah, that's a real loss for what I think
is a great New Zealander that was as assure as
he's respected by everybody. And yeah, it's really sad news.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Absolutely, it's Prime Minister Christoph Luxon, thank you very much
for joining us on the country.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Appreciate it. Hay Mus, have a great week.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
See you made two cheers.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Twenty minutes after twelve after midday on your Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Middle of the week. Camus mcart for Jamie McCatty, How
Prime minister in good form?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Michelle, you've got the feedback machine? Is that sort of
firing up anything anything to discuss that we should perhaps
address at this point.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Yeah, I've got a few texts coming through, a few.
I cannot say all of the words cast radio not repeatable.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
No, I mean some of them are not.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
So there's some interesting points in here.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Someone said, well, stop allowing air farms planted into dot
dot dot pine trees. I'll let you fill the gaps
with that one. Someone is coming with mister lux And
the last lot pointed us towards renewable energy, which they
were having success with, unlike this lot, who are into
the worst climate change.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
When the next tropic is silent.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Waters, yeap will be think thanking labor for doing their
best to arrest climate change, unlike this government. And someone
else has come in and said awful music. I'm sorry
Margaret's for the.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Awful music and Margaret, what music does Jamie normally play?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Which maybe Margaret did agree with me and would like
some barbaro stras and in Barry Gibb a bit are guilty.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Maybe I invite suggestions for the next theme for the rest.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Don't you, Hey, don't you have me falling out with
Jamie by your selection of music?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Michelle, don't you do that to me?
Speaker 7 (15:30):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Look, coming back to the Prime minister.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Look, I think there are attempts to stop this ridiculous
pine tree planting which is absolutely raping and pillaging our
high country and some of our better country as well.
But I do think that individual farm owners retain the
prerogative to at least plant some of the not so
usable rubbish land. I think there's a fair description of
(15:53):
that into pine trees and to make a buck out
of it.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I think that's not unreasonable.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My aunt Beth, who's a very wise woman, she reckons
that Luxen's doing a good job and that she's not
concerned by him ranking fifteenth out of twenty six or
twenty eight from the what was.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
The mood of the boardroom. Yeah, he's got a big
team to run so you know, there you go.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
He hasn't doed a Tom McClay right up there, Chris Bishop,
right up there are Stanford right at the top.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So Erica Stanford a favorite of mine. McLay, I think, yep,
I think they're all you know, look, I'm all about
I'm a great believer in individual contributions, and you know,
there are some very smart people across the other parties.
Don't get me wrong, but right now I think they're
doing an okay job in a tough environment, having inherited
(16:38):
a hospital pass.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But that's just my view.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I shouldn't alienate half our audience. Twenty three minutes after twelve,
when we come back, we're going to be looking at
an iconic three generation family farm, Gold under the Manuka.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
We go to the Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Well, I've been looking forward to this chat for a
while since it first sort of came through the machine
that we would be talking about this particular book. It's
called Gold under the Minookah, and I'm going to get
the correct pronunciation of the station the farm involved. But
it's a farming story like no other. The author is
(17:22):
Bill Mullett, and Bill joins us out of Napier today.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Good afternoon, Bill. How are you?
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Yes, good, good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
A yeah, A fantastic thank you. Now, right, so I'm
going to go Mungo Rapper. Am I correct?
Speaker 7 (17:37):
How do we say? No?
Speaker 8 (17:39):
You're pretty well spot on.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It's manga or Rapper, Munga or Rapper, right, so I
wanted to get that now, manga O Rapper Station, Central
Hawks Bay, Attack.
Speaker 8 (17:51):
Of Power, Central Hawks Bay, Paranha. How so it's more
Southern Hawks Bay about ten Kay and land from Paranha.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
A right, okay, wonderful part of the country. Now, this
is a story of a dream that started back in
what nineteen forty six?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Now who does that? What generation of the family does
that go back to you?
Speaker 8 (18:14):
Now, that's the one of my grandfather and he originated
from Taga Power. I owned a transport business there, but
his dream was to own land and he bought land
at the end of the Taga Power Planes in nineteen
thirty eight. He had two sons and he wanted a
big challenge for them and that challenge came in the
form of buying mang Our Upper Station in nineteen forty
(18:35):
six and they then set about. It was based on
an undeveloped block and they then their challenge was to
plow the Manu current under the ground, which was a
new form of breaking in land at that time, and
that was their challenge. It took them ten years to
do that and the end result when they finished and
finished development was one of the most productive stations in
(18:56):
New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And that was always the view of some of the detractors.
There was one or two that thought that maybe this
wasn't such a good idea.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
Yes, there was exactly right. At the time. The hill
country Manraraba stations basically a flat to rolling property and
the surrounding hills were valued in nineteen forty six at
twice the price of the flat to rolling land of Manarapa,
and the people there was a lot of talk around
where they doubted where the truck drivers could come in
(19:29):
and farm land at this scale because they really didn't
think they knew what they were doing. All of them
gave them six months, so the gym more generous ones
gave them two years. So what they didn't what they
underestimated was these guys will to work and this was
one of the keys to what they did. And obviously
the knowledge they had with machinery to do the work.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And she's a fear old slab of land though, isn't
it four seven nine two?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And the old acres, what said, a couple of thousand.
Speaker 8 (19:59):
Hig dares there, that's the one just over two thousand hectares.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yes, yeah, so the hard work's done. And then in
nineteen seventy nine a couple of a younger couple of
younger blokes come on there and take it on.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Tell us about that.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
Yes, that's right. Well, prior to that, it was my
grandfather started it. He was William Martin or Billy Mollett.
Then my father and his brother took over and they
handled most of the breaking in, and in nineteen fifty
eight my father brought out his brother and he took
(20:37):
on the challenge of running and developing the station further.
And at that time he was the youngest man in
New Zealand with the highest debt in the farming will
so that was a big challenge for him. And then
as you said, nineteen seventy nine, my brother Brian and
I took over in partnership and we found it through
(20:58):
until it was sold in the thousand.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
I'm tired.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, that must have been what's at twenty six years
of your live I mean, but what an incredible time.
And the book recounts much of what you established, free
lambing those high fertility us and freezing bull beef back
in the early nineties.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That was big, wasn't it. And yeah, it became a
fantastic operation.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Yeah, it was a very diverse operation. We were a
self contained a station and that we employed our own carpenters,
our own workshop, engineers, mechanics, our own fencing team. We
did all our own paintings. So it was a unique situation.
It was sort of run on a village type principle,
(21:45):
and our staff were important to us. We treated Stafa's
family and so it was run like that. And the
interesting thing is many of the stuff that have worked
for us have come back over the years and said, well,
it was the best time of their lives. So that's
always a good result from our point of view to
hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, fantastic Bill. The book is gold under the Manukah
mangot up As station ten kilometers inland from Parna. How
three generations took it through and of course, as you say,
the land moves on.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
But you know, I think my dad us. What was
this terminology to me?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We're only ever sort of a guest of the land
or you know, but we never leave it even though
we are, you know, even though it changes on the title, I.
Speaker 8 (22:29):
Guess how you feel exactly right, and the other words
it chooses or caretakers of the land, and one of
the things from our point of view, it's obviously big
decisions when you move on and do other things. We
actually moved into better culture and we grew grapes on
the on manga opera as well, which is actually in
the in the book. But you know, the interesting thing
(22:51):
is the history of any block of land, or any
company for that matter, you never lose it because that
history is locked into the those people and that family
at that time. So yes, you know, that's something that
we think we've captured in the book, and that was
the moment time through that eerror and it'll never leave us,
(23:13):
it'll never go away. And then now the box captured
in words and it's there for a long time. So
we're very proud about that, and that.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Is absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Bill. We thank you out of Apier this morning. Thank
you very much for your time. Much appreciated.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Yeah, thanks very much.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I can't wait to get my hands, you know, wrap
my laughing gear right around gold under the Manukah.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Great to chat to Bill Moat there, doesn't that just Oh,
I'm just sort of thinking back to the fifties sixties,
not that I remember either of those, but the seventies
I do, and what it felt like to be on
the land, on a much smaller.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Block in the munter.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
We're two though, fascinating there the youngest man of the
most dead and did what everybody said he couldn't do.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Michelle Watt, what do you you know? Beautiful story?
Speaker 5 (24:01):
All right, Oh, it's amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
I mean everyone loves reminiscing, and I think especially those
times when those stations were massive, you know, like they
were quite big. I mean not by scale of where
you know, obviously in Australia or anything like in comparison,
but some of the stations back then were really big
and a lot of work, you know, and they put
a lot of work into the love and to the
land as well as they do now.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
We farm thirteen hundred acres up in Appitty in the
Northern Mantle, or two so times that by four at least.
I mean, that's massive. This book too, has you know,
it's not only it's not just a chronicle of events.
It's it's about the courage of the vision, story of
that letters, bank slips, farm diary excepts the pictures you
can see at all in there, righty? It has the
(24:41):
old text machine as it's fired up. Is it sort
of leaning a bit left door? What's happening?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
What's the de Well, no one.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Likes a corrector hamish. But someone's come in and said, hey,
the irony is you said pronunciation when it's pronunciation.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Oh that's a beautiful point. It's like, that's what are
the other ones that I get wrong too? No, I
don't get this wrong press, they're just not prestigious. Now,
thank you for that, whoever that sent that through.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
I like that. I like to.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
You need to.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
If you can't be corrected and put right, then you know,
as Lvi Martin and Son said back in the seventies,
it's the putting right that counts.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
And that is very, very helpful. I appreciate that. Feedback. Radio.
We've got news and sport coming up next here on
the Country.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
To the Country's World News with Cop Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawn Bower brand, visit steel for dot co,
dot nzim for your local stockist.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
Right getting into Rural News now.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Awards application season is in full swing at the moment,
with two kicking off in the next couple of weeks.
First up we have the Xander McDonald applications which opened today.
The Zander McDonald Award is open to Australian and New
Zealand residents aged twenty one to thirty five who actively
engaged in the primary sector. Now, this is an incredible competition.
Xander MacDonald of course just got a permanent fixture over
(26:05):
in the Stockman's Hall of Fame over in Australia and Queensland,
which is a fantastic honor for Shane mcmanaway and his team.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
So get into that. If you run that age you're
in the primary.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Sector, go on and into that competition because it's well
worth even putting through an application. And we've also got
next week the Dairy Industry Awards applications open next through
the entries rather so on Monday. These entries open for
the eleven regions across New Zealand and there were Sheer
Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year and
Dairy Trainee of the Year categories. Those regional winners will
(26:37):
then compete for the national title at the Gala Dinner
and Rose Rua on Saturday May the ninth next year.
So exciting times. There's lots of things happening all over
the place at the moment.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Hamish certainly are after that. Is that my cue to
gard a bit of sports teams.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
We'll play the we sting firstday. We better keep happy.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Here we'll go with the program.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Sports where the ass goes kiwi to the bone.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Since nineteen oh four, Michael van Gerwin, the very famous
darts player, involved in a bit of a punch up
outside a kebab shop. I think was the description of
where I can just see him actually want to have
a bit of a stoush. He's quite a fiery character.
(27:22):
Time to stop the navel gazing, isn't it? With the
black ferns. I'm being slightly editorial here again Michelle, but
it's time to stop the navel gazing. We went to
the Rugby World Cup Women's Rugby World Cup, to be honest,
without a hope and Howler been in that England team.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Oh England, they were so strong and I'll tell you what.
It's actually pretty. It's awesome to see England lifting that cup.
To be honest, I think their sole mission for the
last three years. I mean not that no other team
was aiming for that, you know, by no means, but
England would have been a very tough ask for us
to see New Zealand and incredibly well. I think I'm
very proud of the girls. And to be honest, it's
great for women's rugby. You know, women's rugby's been an
(27:56):
underdog for many many years. It's great to see it
finally sort of getting its time. I mean they feel
what is it they kind of sold Twickenham three or
four times over or something.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Look, it has to happen this pointing the finger at
Alan Bunting as coach and say, I wouldn't have happened
under the Professor Wayne Smith's watch, or they wouldn't you
know when they went out to Graham Henry's flashouse on Wahiki.
I'm sorry, but we beat an England fourteen person team,
fourteen women team in that final. We got damn lucky
the French mister penalty or a conversion out in front
of the semi final. So we needed to bask in
(28:28):
the glory of taking that last one. But we don't
play enough rugby at a high enough level for our
women to be competitive on a weekly basis. Most of
the Canadian team played the English team in club footy,
so we were on a bit of a hiding to
nothing over there. England were always a dollar one favorite,
so we raised the.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Bar so high.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
When we can't jump over it, we do all this
naval gazing and sulking and carrying on. It was a
long long shot. It didn't happen. Move on, get our women,
our black fans some more footy so they can be
better prepared. World Power Games gold medal for Danny Hison
of the one hundred meters that's something that I hadn't
picked up on, so I thought it'd be worth mentioning again.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And the T thirty six over there in New.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Delhi exciting stuff as well. I think you can watch
it online, just like you could watch the Athletics World Championships.
One day, the whole lot hopefully will be on television somewhere.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah, and watch out, Ryan Fox.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
I've been asked to play business house golf down here
in the manner or two so just watch out and sell.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Just watch out.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
I'm going to get my big Bertha out and clang
it right down the left side of the fairway.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Most of the time, lots mood to hearing about anticappers
and getting some good golf stories. Hopefully you've got some
good golf stories than Jamie.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Oh, don't be too hard on Jamie's golf stories. Hey,
those dairy industry awards. I used to front those week
in week out all over the country.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
That's right, Chill.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I told a slightly naughty story one night in Hamilton, apparently,
but then the person who complained about me, a couple
of people came back to me and said to me
that they were one of the most worst human beings
they've ever met in their life. And I'm not even
going to say what organization that they apparently back and
in the heart of the White count Anyway, it's just
another little story, you know, just a.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Little left right jab jab jabby jabby? Righty ho. So
where we're going to go to next? We're going to
We're going to go to China. Are we're going to
go to China? Is that right?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
We're going to That's right, We're heading to change.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Let's head to China next on the Country.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Welcome back into the country on your Wednesday lunchtime, Hamish.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
McKay in for a cousin, I call cousin Duke Luke,
Duke Jamie.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Mckaye over there the Earth for the rugby. Of course,
Handa McGregor is a regular on our show. He's our
corresponded up there in China. Grew up of course here
in New Zealand down south. I might have a chicky
comment about that a little bit later. Of course, he's
busy in the in the ridden meat trade up there
in China. Get a national National Day.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Holidays have just started up there. A big travel event,
isn't it. It's all go.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Yeah, good afternoon, Hamish. Yep, I'm doing it.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
But over time today it's the first.
Speaker 7 (30:58):
Day of a eight day holiday. You know, each year
it's the National Day. Holidays kick off here and it
is a big travel day.
Speaker 9 (31:07):
You know that they have two major holidays up here,
which is Chinese New Year, which sort of floats around
between late January and early February, that changes each year.
And then this holiday, which is a fixed holiday usually
seven or eight days, and you know Chinese New Years
but like Christmas, everyone goes home and then this holiday
everyone goes traveling. So yeah, no, she's busy.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Alright at the moment.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
Yeah, some cities empty out and then a whole loup
of people come flying back in but to have a
look around. So she should be all go in the
tourist spots around China at the moment.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Now is that good for us?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
The old white tablecloth, silver service. They're going to be
eating our red mick, buying up plenty of it.
Speaker 9 (31:50):
I would assume that most restaurants will be busy, but
you know, to be honest, you know, the high end
restaurants are struggling a bit here at the moment. They're
not doing as well, you know, and then you know
a lot of the travelers that will be coming in here,
they'll be going into eating local food. So you know,
it's quite an interesting change, you know in the F
(32:12):
and B scene here is that the middle range, the
middle band of restaurants are disappearing, the sort of value
for money places. And it's either cheap Charlie or really expensive.
But you know, even some of those expensive places that
we supply, you know, em Mission Star place closed down
the other day, been around for a while. You know,
(32:32):
another another restaurant will replace it. But you know there's
always constant change. And you know, even the top end
here is struggling a bit. You know what we're the
ones was, but you know there's still people going out
and eating stuff, so they'll plenty of consumed Good.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
To hear, Good to hear. What's your greatest challenge though,
in terms of the business.
Speaker 9 (32:51):
That you do up there at the moment, I just
think generally the economy here is struggling. People don't spend
as much as they used to do, so the business
has changed. You know, you just got to adjust to
the market. And the market's moved. It's not going to
move back to what it once was. So you just
readjust and we're going through another adjustment period and going, well,
(33:15):
how can we make this work because what was doing
before wasn't working. So yeah, and that's what happens in China.
Things change quickly and you've got to move with the market.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
And the way you go.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Is that a local reaction and the change that you
say is going to hang around or is it global?
What's what's sort of driving this?
Speaker 9 (33:35):
Well, you know the Chinese consumer that the average Chinese
punter is not not silly. They don't buy up things
on debt. You know, when when when they see see
some some clouds on the horizon, they put their money
in their pocket and save it, you know.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
They don't go out and spend on credit cards.
Speaker 9 (33:52):
And but like like like a lot of consumers in
the West, so they're just a bit more cautious on
spending and going out and doing things in general. And
that's that's, that's what the market we live in at
the moment. That that that that's the current position in China.
And yeah, things will change at some point, but I
can't see it bounce back to what it once was,
(34:13):
to pre COVID levels or even during COVID when people
are out spending quite a lot of money. So you know,
it is just a new reality up here, and you
just got adjusting business accordingly.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 7 (34:25):
I can.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Leta's talk about some of the madness that comes about
with these this holiday period you've got up till the
eighth of October. I mean, the roads are chopper, you know,
what's it like, you know, trying to get accommodation, and
I know you've got a bit of a story about
parking in Shanghai and or having a car in Shanghai.
Speaker 9 (34:43):
Yeah, well yeah, what they do. You know, China has
a hell of a lot of toll roads, you know,
so what they do during these holidays is they drop
all the toll roads, so all the there's no tolls
on the road. So you know, I'll give you an
example last night, even this morning, I just just just
checked again, you know, going out of Shanghai and it's
about three hundred k's that will usually take about three hours,
(35:03):
two hours forty five. You know, there's a high speeds
that are told highway all the way through there.
Speaker 7 (35:10):
You sit one hundred and twenty all the way.
Speaker 9 (35:12):
Last night it got up to nine hours to get there.
It's sitting on about eight hours at the moment. So
you know, the roads, the chokker, the infrastructure sort of
sort of gets overrun.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
You always here, but a.
Speaker 9 (35:22):
Negative it's a negative media in the West about how
the ev infrastructure doesn't can't sustain the cars on the road. Well,
the picture infrastructure gets overflown as well, you know, because
everyone's out there traveling at the same time.
Speaker 7 (35:37):
They will do it at the.
Speaker 9 (35:38):
End of the holiday, so in the middle of the holiday,
it's quite good. But you know this time of the
year they jack up all the prices for the hotels
and everything like that as well. We're looking at going
to like a watertown near Shanghai that this holidays and
it's usually about eight hundred REMENB, so two hundred bucks
a room, but they jacked the prices up to about
three thousand room and B which is about six hundred bucks.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
So we're like, I'll flag that or just stay at home.
So just go for the day.
Speaker 9 (36:06):
But you know, it's a busy time and stuff, but
you know, it is what it is, and still plenty
of opportunities around because lots of people there.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
You go harda McGregor out of China. There, what an
interesting life that man leads. Looking after getting shifting our
red meat over there in China, I've got a good
idea for something for you next Dexuly, Michelle, we're going
to do We're going to do a thing called Let's
Chew the Fat. It is nine minutes away from one
(36:37):
twelve to fifty one on the country. Apparently I've been
going over my time Li it's talking, so we're not
going to have as much time as I thought.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
We would to chew the fat. Michelle, you need to
crack the woop a little bit more, I think.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So to speak, poor planning, poor planning on my part.
We were having way too much fun in the other segments.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Hey, exactly, Hey, look I've got it. Do you watch
a bit of Telly?
Speaker 5 (37:10):
I do watch a little bit of Telly.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Yeah, Look, I've got a new favorite program that I've
just watched them, and I'm conscious of the old clock here.
But the hostage have you seen the hostage on Netflix
with Sarah Jones who used to be a big star
on Coronation Street, who's made it into the big time
on the on the old Telly.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Actually, the hostage on Netflix?
Speaker 7 (37:26):
Do you go?
Speaker 3 (37:26):
There's my recommendation?
Speaker 4 (37:28):
No, I haven't. I might have to get stuck into
that one. I do love the good old Midsummer murders. Oh,
I get right into Midsummer murders, just.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Like my wife. She's righted those.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Hey, and anybody should check out the Petty Gower Show
from last night on three two with those AI six dollars.
It's absolute unbelievable that that can be happening, and that
our teenagers can.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Be exposed to that we'll come back shortly and wrap
it all up here on the Country.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Four minutes away from one. That's it for the Country.
We'll do it all again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
I have a great day. I'm Heimus McCay for Jamie
McCay's see you tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (38:06):
That's a long.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Way catch all the latest from the land. It's The
Country Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist
in John Deere construction equipment
Catch all the latest from the land. It's the Country
Podcast with Jamie mckuye thanks to Brents, the starkest of
the leading agriculture brands.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Good afternoon or welcome into the country, right across the country.
Funnily enough, Hamus mckaye in for cousin Jamie mckuy different spelling,
of course, but we've taken to accepting that somewhere along
the line we may share the same gene.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Paul bo Juke and Luke.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Duke, you could say, hey, great to have your company,
big show coming. I'm pretty surely we've got to talk
quite a lot with the Prime Minister. Christopher Luxeant will
join book review time today. I am looking forward to this.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Bill Mowatt.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
That was the fabulous Maunga Rappa Station Baronga Howe in
that Central Hawks Bay. What an effort from three generations
gold under the Monouca.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
We go to China, Hunt of McGregor. Hunt of MacGregor.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Will bring us up to a few things that are
happening in China besides selling our red meat of innison,
et cetera over there. He's going to tell us what's
happening with the bit of a holiday time over there
in China at the moment, and no doubt myself and
the one and only MW Michelle will have a little
bit of banteritoo a little bit to chat about today
(01:38):
as well. And starting off yesterday, we kicked them with
a bit of Barber Streisand and Barry Gibb, you know,
sort of red wine by the fire guilty kind of music.
Akadaka ACDC today Michelle, what's with that?
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Well, I just found a little bit of a today
in history. Twenty one years ago a sign was installed
at Elaine was now named after ac DC in Melbourne
and as you to install more signs because they're worried
about all the Bogans. I guess stealing a sign all
the time, but I never get to play Bogan music
on the show that much, so I thought i'd take
advantage of it.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
Since Jamie's away the.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Other machait does he sort of ruled with an iron
fist when it comes to Bogan music. I mean, this
will be the sort of music that'll be pumping in
Alexandra at the at the Shears this weekend, won't It is.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
The sharing shed jam This one.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Absolutely, this has dropped down onto the long blow turned
for the last side.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Mackay won two three bottom tooth down music absolutely percent.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Okay Radio, it is ten after middaytime to get serious
the country. Prime Minister Christopher Luxen joins us. Now welcome,
Prime Minister. I hope I haven't interrupted you on your
way to a certain game of cricket or anything like that.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
By chance you haven't, Hamish. But it's going to be
quite a competition that one, isn't that It's.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Going to be, yeah, and I'm looking forward to It
feels a funny time of the year to be cracking
into it.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But that's all good.
Speaker 7 (02:56):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Look the government's energy package out this morning, an announcement
hot off the press boosting energy supply competition.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
What does this mean for the sort of the.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I guess the Danny Wurker farmer or the tie happy
mother of five.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
Look, I mean, in the country that's got lots of
natural resources, we shouldn't have an energy challenge, right, but
yet we have. And that's because the last lot did
that oil and gas ban and as a result, that
scared off a lot of investors and as a result
they stopped exploring gas. And as a result, when we
have dry years, we really need to lean on gas
and argue with some coal as well. So we want
(03:31):
to make sure we've got affordable, abundant electricity. And what
we're doing is saying, yep, we're going to double the
amount of renewables, and we've done a lot of things
on consenting to speed all that up. And there's a
heap of electricity coming into the market through renewables, which
is fantastic, But even so in that last fifteen percent
that we need, which will still be gas for many
decades ahead, we've.
Speaker 7 (03:50):
Got to encourage people to explore for gas.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
We've got a whole bunch of incentives around that we're
going to look at actually even importing gas. And so
the push came to shove. We've got abundant electricity and
gas available, and we're also just saying to the energy
companies that look, you may need to invest in what's
called firming or therm or electricity, and actually we're going
to maintain our shareholding in these Gen Taylor companies, but
(04:13):
we actually if you want to raise more money to
make those investments in that capital, we will support you
in doing that and we will make that equivalent investments
as well to support you with that and maintain our shareholding.
So there's just a number of technical things, but what
we're trying to do here is really clean up the
mess that we were left with, which is in a
country like New Zealand, we shouldn't have an energy crisis
or challenge, and we've got to get these things set
(04:34):
up right for the long term so we don't end
up closing down businesses which we want to keep going
in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
End of the day, well when the monthly bill paying
day comes, when they expect that, we'll hope that this
might make an impact.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
Yeah, look, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
I mean, it'll ultimately be determined by the electricity companies,
but we're doing everything we can to put down a
pressure on prices into what's called flatten the forward curves,
meaning that basically, because there's always this risk of a
flat year, that actually is what spikes and drives electricity
prices up, and we've got to do everything we can
to put that downward pressure on and then that reflects
(05:11):
is ultimately through to consumers. But yeah, I can't I
mean that that will be determined by them, but I'm
doing everything we can as a government to get the
settings right, to get the framework right, to make as
much investment as possible, to turn on as much supply
as we possibly can, and to fect some of those
structural problems that we've had with thermal or firming electricity.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Okay, you've been pushing pretty hard in terms of a
bipartisan arrangement for gas exploration chipping away you could say
at that without any luck.
Speaker 7 (05:42):
Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's really important.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
I mean, it's all very easy to go out there
in twenty eighteen and say we're going to end oil
and gas.
Speaker 7 (05:48):
But the flip side was, if you're a big.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Company that's been down in New Zealand and you've got
operations all around the world, you basically send a signal
back to investors to say, look, we're not interested in
your money, your investment and expiration for gas and running
gas fields in New Zealand, and that as a result
last I'm asking Hipkins, and I've spoken about this publicly
many times, and say, look, that should be a bipartisan thing.
Speaker 7 (06:11):
That's a New Zealand thing, that's not a political thing.
We are going to need gas for decades ahead of us.
Speaker 6 (06:17):
We should be encouraging those investors to come back into
the market to make sure that they can explore and
find gas and operate gas fields, which we need. And
so it's a serious issue with some serious consequences for
all New Zealanders. And so I'm just asking him to say, Okay,
I'm spirited by partisanship, which we've reached out on education,
on public private partnerships, on infrastructure.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
This is a classic where for at least.
Speaker 6 (06:39):
For the next ten years, just confirm that the settings
and the rules will change, the same, will stay the same,
so that you don't actually have investors who are trying
to put hundreds of millions of dollars into New Zealand
and having all those investments frustrated by changing governments and
changing policies.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Are you having any luck or is it a dead duck?
Speaker 6 (06:57):
Well, I think we should be focused on doing everything
they can to keep the lights on and keep prices
low for lower, middle income working New Zelanders and all
of us. And so let's see what they say, and
I hope that they come to just a sensible decision.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
But I've talked about it public.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
They aways wanted to formalize that and actually get a
formal response from labor to say we're up for that
or not up for that?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, the earthquake prone building systems classification overhaul, I mean
that seems like a speaking of sensible decisions and a
bit of a no brainer.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Yeah, really common sensible stuff. You know, it was a
system that was set up with good intentions back and
back after the earthquakes, but actually in practice hasn't worked.
And you can go round to a number of towns,
whether you're in Morerinsville or Fielding or Martin or lots
of different places I can think of, I've visited where
you've got de relict buildings because actually the cost of
remediation is greater than the cost of the building. As
(07:51):
a result, developers just owners end up just walking away
from those buildings, they cause more damage themselves. So we've
got the balance right here, which is we've got to
protect human life, make sure people are as safe as
they possibly can be. We're going to be much more
specific on what type of remediation is needed to certain
types of buildings. And then obviously you know there's about
eight billion dollars in remediation and demolishing costs that we
(08:13):
think we will save these islanders. And of course that
means that those building owners can get on and spend
that money and other projects and which we want them
to do so, creating jobs and opportunities for tradings and others.
So at the moment, it's between so much paralysis because
you've got all these vacant, derelict buildings sitting there because
the cost of remediation is out of whack, and it
turns out the risk actually is we're not managing the
(08:34):
risk well as to where the actual earthquakes I likely
to happen and what's low, medium, and high earthquake zones.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Interesting you mentioned Fielding, I know, just along from Sue's
Redmain's office as Capital these beautiful old buildings and they
are so I love derected yea, and thinking I'm even
thinking like a little bit of a project, an apartment
sort of conversion to them because of the facade and
everything and what they're made of must be fantastic.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
I mean, so yeah, yeah, the opportunity is great, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (09:02):
Hey much.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
I mean the thing is that you know, in the past,
it has been like you've got to totally retrofit that
whole building so that that existing building is at the
same standard as a brand new building build today.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
So all new buildings obviously got to.
Speaker 6 (09:12):
Meet the building code going forward from here, which is
great and it's a good standard. But actually what you
might need to do there is actually, for example, secure
the facade. You know, that's so that actually the risk
there is actually the facade crumbles and actually does bricks
for onto potential pedestrian and an earthquake scenario on the footpath.
Speaker 7 (09:28):
So if you have secured that facade, that may be
what you need to be able to do. You might
do a targeted retrofit.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
You might just need to register the building on a
register so that we've got some visibility of it, but
not actually need to do remediation. So there's a series
of just I think, just very common sense work. We
had broad discussion with engineers, with building owners, with the public,
with earthquake experts, all those.
Speaker 7 (09:52):
Kinds of things. So I think it's just really sensible
work that's taking place now.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
The next sort of talked about ACR CAT and wh
I other world with Tremaine's real estate. I you know,
some some people say, hey, miss you'd love that it's
going to a business or boom but at the end
of the day, we just don't want to see property madness,
do we. I mean, I hope there's some more sort
of I don't know, I hope there's some more common
sense around lower interest rates.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Should that.
Speaker 6 (10:16):
Yeah, Look, I think you're seeing a government that sort
of says, look, you can't have what we had at
the beginning of twenty twenty two, which is we had
a thirty percent increase in house prices in a single year.
Right that everyone knows across the z Ellen that is unsustainable. Equally,
interest rates are coming down because inflation's coming down because
we're getting a grip on spending, which is what was
driving the reverse of that under labor. So look, I mean,
(10:39):
the good news is, even if you were there today,
the reality is that forty two percent of New Zealanders
are refixing or refinancing their mortgages within the next six months.
And if you've got an average mortgage of five hundred
thousand dollars, that could be up to six hundred and
sixty dollars a month.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
You know that you're actually out back.
Speaker 6 (10:55):
In your back pocket with those lower interest rates. So look,
you know, as you've heard upon Ymus and projecting we
have two more rate cuts down Christmas, and so as
to what they'll be, that'll be up to the Reserve Bank.
But you know that's important and already I just you know,
you're seeing the benefits of falling interest rates, falling inflation.
Speaker 7 (11:13):
Certainly.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
You know what's happening in the rural communities. Our primary
industry sectors having record years. You know, places like christ Church,
South Island, they have plenty doing well. Our real challenges
are sitting still, as I say, in a two speed recovery,
sitting in Allcondon. We've got to make sure we get
all compiled up. And that's coming, and it will come
as those interest rates are transmitted through to people who
have their money to spend back in the economy.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Prime minison.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
When you're getting around the country, around the traps and
at the fielding sale yards, I'm seeing you know, lamb
turning into hogates selling for two hundred and ninety two dollars.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
A farm is smiling a bit more and moaning a
little less.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
Yeah, Well, farmer confidence is the highest it's been since
something twenty seventeen, so over the last ten years.
Speaker 7 (11:53):
So that's really fantastic. We know farmers are doing well.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
We've got I think dairies up thirteen percent, We've got
read meat up eight or nine, we've got horticulture up
nineteen percent, even walls having in better years than it's
had in recent time. So you know, all across the
board you're saying it too well. You're seeing from Terra
with the payouts return of the consumer brands business farmers
will oftenly come back through the shaholders as well and farmers,
(12:17):
So all of that's good. We've got investment boost out
there to try and get farmers to spend more on
plant capital equipment as they get those returns coming through.
The profitability outlooks for farmers that are profitable as the
highest it's been in a long time, so for ten
years or so. So you know that all of that
says that, you know, that's why the rural community, as
as I've always said, is the backbone ovigalent economy.
Speaker 7 (12:37):
It's the ones that are powering us out of the
recession again.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
And all our exports are going gangbusters around the world,
particularly in primary industry, but also in services and technology
and other things as well. So yeah, I know it's
been a very difficult, very tough time. We've had to
take our medicine to deal with economic vandalism and mess
that we were left with. But we're cleaning that up,
sorting that out, and now we've got to see recovery
(13:01):
start to come through in Auckland and Wellington and other
parts of the economy and that's starting to happen.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And finally, Prime Minister the last but by no means
least sad news today and iconic New Zealander passing away
Nigel Letter at just the age of fifty eight, somebody
who made our lives more interesting and certainly made us.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
Think, yeah, look, I mean that's really sad news. I
just said that too, and I just think, you know,
incredible guy. Actually, I watched some of the TV specials Amanda,
and I read his books on raising kids and teenagers
and he just had a different way of expressing things
that were you know, sort of sensible and next year
and provoking you to think about something slightly differently. And
(13:39):
so yeah, that's a real loss for what I think
is a great New Zealander that was as assure as
he's respected by everybody. And yeah, it's really sad news.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Absolutely, it's Prime Minister Christoph Luxon, thank you very much
for joining us on the country.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Appreciate it. Hay Mus, have a great week.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
See you made two cheers.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Twenty minutes after twelve after midday on your Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Middle of the week. Camus mcart for Jamie McCatty, How
Prime minister in good form?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Michelle, you've got the feedback machine? Is that sort of
firing up anything anything to discuss that we should perhaps
address at this point.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Yeah, I've got a few texts coming through, a few.
I cannot say all of the words cast radio not repeatable.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
No, I mean some of them are not.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
So there's some interesting points in here.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Someone said, well, stop allowing air farms planted into dot
dot dot pine trees. I'll let you fill the gaps
with that one. Someone is coming with mister lux And
the last lot pointed us towards renewable energy, which they
were having success with, unlike this lot, who are into
the worst climate change.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
When the next tropic is silent.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Waters, yeap will be think thanking labor for doing their
best to arrest climate change, unlike this government. And someone
else has come in and said awful music. I'm sorry
Margaret's for the.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Awful music and Margaret, what music does Jamie normally play?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Which maybe Margaret did agree with me and would like
some barbaro stras and in Barry Gibb a bit are guilty.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Maybe I invite suggestions for the next theme for the rest.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Don't you, Hey, don't you have me falling out with
Jamie by your selection of music?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Michelle, don't you do that to me?
Speaker 7 (15:30):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Look, coming back to the Prime minister.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Look, I think there are attempts to stop this ridiculous
pine tree planting which is absolutely raping and pillaging our
high country and some of our better country as well.
But I do think that individual farm owners retain the
prerogative to at least plant some of the not so
usable rubbish land. I think there's a fair description of
(15:53):
that into pine trees and to make a buck out
of it.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I think that's not unreasonable.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My aunt Beth, who's a very wise woman, she reckons
that Luxen's doing a good job and that she's not
concerned by him ranking fifteenth out of twenty six or
twenty eight from the what was.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
The mood of the boardroom. Yeah, he's got a big
team to run so you know, there you go.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
He hasn't doed a Tom McClay right up there, Chris Bishop,
right up there are Stanford right at the top.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So Erica Stanford a favorite of mine. McLay, I think, yep,
I think they're all you know, look, I'm all about
I'm a great believer in individual contributions, and you know,
there are some very smart people across the other parties.
Don't get me wrong, but right now I think they're
doing an okay job in a tough environment, having inherited
(16:38):
a hospital pass.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But that's just my view.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
I shouldn't alienate half our audience. Twenty three minutes after twelve,
when we come back, we're going to be looking at
an iconic three generation family farm, Gold under the Manuka.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
We go to the Hawk's Bay.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Well, I've been looking forward to this chat for a
while since it first sort of came through the machine
that we would be talking about this particular book. It's
called Gold under the Minookah, and I'm going to get
the correct pronunciation of the station the farm involved. But
it's a farming story like no other. The author is
(17:22):
Bill Mullett, and Bill joins us out of Napier today.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Good afternoon, Bill. How are you?
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Yes, good, good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
A yeah, A fantastic thank you. Now, right, so I'm
going to go Mungo Rapper. Am I correct?
Speaker 7 (17:37):
How do we say? No?
Speaker 8 (17:39):
You're pretty well spot on.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It's manga or Rapper, Munga or Rapper, right, so I
wanted to get that now, manga O Rapper Station, Central
Hawks Bay, Attack.
Speaker 8 (17:51):
Of Power, Central Hawks Bay, Paranha. How so it's more
Southern Hawks Bay about ten Kay and land from Paranha.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
A right, okay, wonderful part of the country. Now, this
is a story of a dream that started back in
what nineteen forty six?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Now who does that? What generation of the family does
that go back to you?
Speaker 8 (18:14):
Now, that's the one of my grandfather and he originated
from Taga Power. I owned a transport business there, but
his dream was to own land and he bought land
at the end of the Taga Power Planes in nineteen
thirty eight. He had two sons and he wanted a
big challenge for them and that challenge came in the
form of buying mang Our Upper Station in nineteen forty
(18:35):
six and they then set about. It was based on
an undeveloped block and they then their challenge was to
plow the Manu current under the ground, which was a
new form of breaking in land at that time, and
that was their challenge. It took them ten years to
do that and the end result when they finished and
finished development was one of the most productive stations in
(18:56):
New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And that was always the view of some of the detractors.
There was one or two that thought that maybe this
wasn't such a good idea.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
Yes, there was exactly right. At the time. The hill
country Manraraba stations basically a flat to rolling property and
the surrounding hills were valued in nineteen forty six at
twice the price of the flat to rolling land of Manarapa,
and the people there was a lot of talk around
where they doubted where the truck drivers could come in
(19:29):
and farm land at this scale because they really didn't
think they knew what they were doing. All of them
gave them six months, so the gym more generous ones
gave them two years. So what they didn't what they
underestimated was these guys will to work and this was
one of the keys to what they did. And obviously
the knowledge they had with machinery to do the work.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah, fantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And she's a fear old slab of land though, isn't
it four seven nine two?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
And the old acres, what said, a couple of thousand.
Speaker 8 (19:59):
Hig dares there, that's the one just over two thousand hectares.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yes, yeah, so the hard work's done. And then in
nineteen seventy nine a couple of a younger couple of
younger blokes come on there and take it on.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Tell us about that.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
Yes, that's right. Well, prior to that, it was my
grandfather started it. He was William Martin or Billy Mollett.
Then my father and his brother took over and they
handled most of the breaking in, and in nineteen fifty
eight my father brought out his brother and he took
(20:37):
on the challenge of running and developing the station further.
And at that time he was the youngest man in
New Zealand with the highest debt in the farming will
so that was a big challenge for him. And then
as you said, nineteen seventy nine, my brother Brian and
I took over in partnership and we found it through
(20:58):
until it was sold in the thousand.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
I'm tired.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, that must have been what's at twenty six years
of your live I mean, but what an incredible time.
And the book recounts much of what you established, free
lambing those high fertility us and freezing bull beef back
in the early nineties.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
That was big, wasn't it. And yeah, it became a
fantastic operation.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Yeah, it was a very diverse operation. We were a
self contained a station and that we employed our own carpenters,
our own workshop, engineers, mechanics, our own fencing team. We
did all our own paintings. So it was a unique situation.
It was sort of run on a village type principle,
(21:45):
and our staff were important to us. We treated Stafa's
family and so it was run like that. And the
interesting thing is many of the stuff that have worked
for us have come back over the years and said, well,
it was the best time of their lives. So that's
always a good result from our point of view to
hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, fantastic Bill. The book is gold under the Manukah
mangot up As station ten kilometers inland from Parna. How
three generations took it through and of course, as you say,
the land moves on.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
But you know, I think my dad us. What was
this terminology to me?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We're only ever sort of a guest of the land
or you know, but we never leave it even though
we are, you know, even though it changes on the title, I.
Speaker 8 (22:29):
Guess how you feel exactly right, and the other words
it chooses or caretakers of the land, and one of
the things from our point of view, it's obviously big
decisions when you move on and do other things. We
actually moved into better culture and we grew grapes on
the on manga opera as well, which is actually in
the in the book. But you know, the interesting thing
(22:51):
is the history of any block of land, or any
company for that matter, you never lose it because that
history is locked into the those people and that family
at that time. So yes, you know, that's something that
we think we've captured in the book, and that was
the moment time through that eerror and it'll never leave us,
(23:13):
it'll never go away. And then now the box captured
in words and it's there for a long time. So
we're very proud about that, and that.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Is absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Bill. We thank you out of Apier this morning. Thank
you very much for your time. Much appreciated.
Speaker 8 (23:27):
Yeah, thanks very much.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I can't wait to get my hands, you know, wrap
my laughing gear right around gold under the Manukah.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Great to chat to Bill Moat there, doesn't that just Oh,
I'm just sort of thinking back to the fifties sixties,
not that I remember either of those, but the seventies
I do, and what it felt like to be on
the land, on a much smaller.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Block in the munter.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
We're two though, fascinating there the youngest man of the
most dead and did what everybody said he couldn't do.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Michelle Watt, what do you you know? Beautiful story?
Speaker 5 (24:01):
All right, Oh, it's amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
I mean everyone loves reminiscing, and I think especially those
times when those stations were massive, you know, like they
were quite big. I mean not by scale of where
you know, obviously in Australia or anything like in comparison,
but some of the stations back then were really big
and a lot of work, you know, and they put
a lot of work into the love and to the
land as well as they do now.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
We farm thirteen hundred acres up in Appitty in the
Northern Mantle, or two so times that by four at least.
I mean, that's massive. This book too, has you know,
it's not only it's not just a chronicle of events.
It's it's about the courage of the vision, story of
that letters, bank slips, farm diary excepts the pictures you
can see at all in there, righty? It has the
(24:41):
old text machine as it's fired up. Is it sort
of leaning a bit left door? What's happening?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
What's the de Well, no one.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Likes a corrector hamish. But someone's come in and said, hey,
the irony is you said pronunciation when it's pronunciation.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Oh that's a beautiful point. It's like, that's what are
the other ones that I get wrong too? No, I
don't get this wrong press, they're just not prestigious. Now,
thank you for that, whoever that sent that through.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
I like that. I like to.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
You need to.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
If you can't be corrected and put right, then you know,
as Lvi Martin and Son said back in the seventies,
it's the putting right that counts.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
And that is very, very helpful. I appreciate that. Feedback. Radio.
We've got news and sport coming up next here on
the Country.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
To the Country's World News with Cop Cadet, New Zealand's
leading right on lawn Bower brand, visit steel for dot co,
dot nzim for your local stockist.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
Right getting into Rural News now.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Awards application season is in full swing at the moment,
with two kicking off in the next couple of weeks.
First up we have the Xander McDonald applications which opened today.
The Zander McDonald Award is open to Australian and New
Zealand residents aged twenty one to thirty five who actively
engaged in the primary sector. Now, this is an incredible competition.
Xander MacDonald of course just got a permanent fixture over
(26:05):
in the Stockman's Hall of Fame over in Australia and Queensland,
which is a fantastic honor for Shane mcmanaway and his team.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
So get into that. If you run that age you're
in the primary.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Sector, go on and into that competition because it's well
worth even putting through an application. And we've also got
next week the Dairy Industry Awards applications open next through
the entries rather so on Monday. These entries open for
the eleven regions across New Zealand and there were Sheer
Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year and
Dairy Trainee of the Year categories. Those regional winners will
(26:37):
then compete for the national title at the Gala Dinner
and Rose Rua on Saturday May the ninth next year.
So exciting times. There's lots of things happening all over
the place at the moment.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Hamish certainly are after that. Is that my cue to
gard a bit of sports teams.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
We'll play the we sting firstday. We better keep happy.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Here we'll go with the program.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Sports where the ass goes kiwi to the bone.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Since nineteen oh four, Michael van Gerwin, the very famous
darts player, involved in a bit of a punch up
outside a kebab shop. I think was the description of
where I can just see him actually want to have
a bit of a stoush. He's quite a fiery character.
(27:22):
Time to stop the navel gazing, isn't it? With the
black ferns. I'm being slightly editorial here again Michelle, but
it's time to stop the navel gazing. We went to
the Rugby World Cup Women's Rugby World Cup, to be honest,
without a hope and Howler been in that England team.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Oh England, they were so strong and I'll tell you what.
It's actually pretty. It's awesome to see England lifting that cup.
To be honest, I think their sole mission for the
last three years. I mean not that no other team
was aiming for that, you know, by no means, but
England would have been a very tough ask for us
to see New Zealand and incredibly well. I think I'm
very proud of the girls. And to be honest, it's
great for women's rugby. You know, women's rugby's been an
(27:56):
underdog for many many years. It's great to see it
finally sort of getting its time. I mean they feel
what is it they kind of sold Twickenham three or
four times over or something.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Look, it has to happen this pointing the finger at
Alan Bunting as coach and say, I wouldn't have happened
under the Professor Wayne Smith's watch, or they wouldn't you
know when they went out to Graham Henry's flashouse on Wahiki.
I'm sorry, but we beat an England fourteen person team,
fourteen women team in that final. We got damn lucky
the French mister penalty or a conversion out in front
of the semi final. So we needed to bask in
(28:28):
the glory of taking that last one. But we don't
play enough rugby at a high enough level for our
women to be competitive on a weekly basis. Most of
the Canadian team played the English team in club footy,
so we were on a bit of a hiding to
nothing over there. England were always a dollar one favorite,
so we raised the.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Bar so high.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
When we can't jump over it, we do all this
naval gazing and sulking and carrying on. It was a
long long shot. It didn't happen. Move on, get our women,
our black fans some more footy so they can be
better prepared. World Power Games gold medal for Danny Hison
of the one hundred meters that's something that I hadn't
picked up on, so I thought it'd be worth mentioning again.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And the T thirty six over there in New.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Delhi exciting stuff as well. I think you can watch
it online, just like you could watch the Athletics World Championships.
One day, the whole lot hopefully will be on television somewhere.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah, and watch out, Ryan Fox.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
I've been asked to play business house golf down here
in the manner or two so just watch out and sell.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Just watch out.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
I'm going to get my big Bertha out and clang
it right down the left side of the fairway.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Most of the time, lots mood to hearing about anticappers
and getting some good golf stories. Hopefully you've got some
good golf stories than Jamie.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Oh, don't be too hard on Jamie's golf stories. Hey,
those dairy industry awards. I used to front those week
in week out all over the country.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
That's right, Chill.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I told a slightly naughty story one night in Hamilton, apparently,
but then the person who complained about me, a couple
of people came back to me and said to me
that they were one of the most worst human beings
they've ever met in their life. And I'm not even
going to say what organization that they apparently back and
in the heart of the White count Anyway, it's just
another little story, you know, just a.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Little left right jab jab jabby jabby? Righty ho. So
where we're going to go to next? We're going to
We're going to go to China. Are we're going to
go to China? Is that right?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
We're going to That's right, We're heading to change.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Let's head to China next on the Country.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Welcome back into the country on your Wednesday lunchtime, Hamish.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
McKay in for a cousin, I call cousin Duke Luke,
Duke Jamie.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Mckaye over there the Earth for the rugby. Of course,
Handa McGregor is a regular on our show. He's our
corresponded up there in China. Grew up of course here
in New Zealand down south. I might have a chicky
comment about that a little bit later. Of course, he's
busy in the in the ridden meat trade up there
in China. Get a national National Day.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Holidays have just started up there. A big travel event,
isn't it. It's all go.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Yeah, good afternoon, Hamish. Yep, I'm doing it.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
But over time today it's the first.
Speaker 7 (30:58):
Day of a eight day holiday. You know, each year
it's the National Day. Holidays kick off here and it
is a big travel day.
Speaker 9 (31:07):
You know that they have two major holidays up here,
which is Chinese New Year, which sort of floats around
between late January and early February, that changes each year.
And then this holiday, which is a fixed holiday usually
seven or eight days, and you know Chinese New Years
but like Christmas, everyone goes home and then this holiday
everyone goes traveling. So yeah, no, she's busy.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Alright at the moment.
Speaker 9 (31:31):
Yeah, some cities empty out and then a whole loup
of people come flying back in but to have a
look around. So she should be all go in the
tourist spots around China at the moment.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Now is that good for us?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
The old white tablecloth, silver service. They're going to be
eating our red mick, buying up plenty of it.
Speaker 9 (31:50):
I would assume that most restaurants will be busy, but
you know, to be honest, you know, the high end
restaurants are struggling a bit here at the moment. They're
not doing as well, you know, and then you know
a lot of the travelers that will be coming in here,
they'll be going into eating local food. So you know,
it's quite an interesting change, you know in the F
(32:12):
and B scene here is that the middle range, the
middle band of restaurants are disappearing, the sort of value
for money places. And it's either cheap Charlie or really expensive.
But you know, even some of those expensive places that
we supply, you know, em Mission Star place closed down
the other day, been around for a while. You know,
(32:32):
another another restaurant will replace it. But you know there's
always constant change. And you know, even the top end
here is struggling a bit. You know what we're the
ones was, but you know there's still people going out
and eating stuff, so they'll plenty of consumed Good.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
To hear, Good to hear. What's your greatest challenge though,
in terms of the business.
Speaker 9 (32:51):
That you do up there at the moment, I just
think generally the economy here is struggling. People don't spend
as much as they used to do, so the business
has changed. You know, you just got to adjust to
the market. And the market's moved. It's not going to
move back to what it once was. So you just
readjust and we're going through another adjustment period and going, well,
(33:15):
how can we make this work because what was doing
before wasn't working. So yeah, and that's what happens in China.
Things change quickly and you've got to move with the market.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
And the way you go.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Is that a local reaction and the change that you
say is going to hang around or is it global?
What's what's sort of driving this?
Speaker 9 (33:35):
Well, you know the Chinese consumer that the average Chinese
punter is not not silly. They don't buy up things
on debt. You know, when when when they see see
some some clouds on the horizon, they put their money
in their pocket and save it, you know.
Speaker 7 (33:49):
They don't go out and spend on credit cards.
Speaker 9 (33:52):
And but like like like a lot of consumers in
the West, so they're just a bit more cautious on
spending and going out and doing things in general. And
that's that's, that's what the market we live in at
the moment. That that that that's the current position in China.
And yeah, things will change at some point, but I
can't see it bounce back to what it once was,
(34:13):
to pre COVID levels or even during COVID when people
are out spending quite a lot of money. So you know,
it is just a new reality up here, and you
just got adjusting business accordingly.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 7 (34:25):
I can.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Leta's talk about some of the madness that comes about
with these this holiday period you've got up till the
eighth of October. I mean, the roads are chopper, you know,
what's it like, you know, trying to get accommodation, and
I know you've got a bit of a story about
parking in Shanghai and or having a car in Shanghai.
Speaker 9 (34:43):
Yeah, well yeah, what they do. You know, China has
a hell of a lot of toll roads, you know,
so what they do during these holidays is they drop
all the toll roads, so all the there's no tolls
on the road. So you know, I'll give you an
example last night, even this morning, I just just just
checked again, you know, going out of Shanghai and it's
about three hundred k's that will usually take about three hours,
(35:03):
two hours forty five. You know, there's a high speeds
that are told highway all the way through there.
Speaker 7 (35:10):
You sit one hundred and twenty all the way.
Speaker 9 (35:12):
Last night it got up to nine hours to get there.
It's sitting on about eight hours at the moment. So
you know, the roads, the chokker, the infrastructure sort of
sort of gets overrun.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
You always here, but a.
Speaker 9 (35:22):
Negative it's a negative media in the West about how
the ev infrastructure doesn't can't sustain the cars on the road. Well,
the picture infrastructure gets overflown as well, you know, because
everyone's out there traveling at the same time.
Speaker 7 (35:37):
They will do it at the.
Speaker 9 (35:38):
End of the holiday, so in the middle of the holiday,
it's quite good. But you know this time of the
year they jack up all the prices for the hotels
and everything like that as well. We're looking at going
to like a watertown near Shanghai that this holidays and
it's usually about eight hundred REMENB, so two hundred bucks
a room, but they jacked the prices up to about
three thousand room and B which is about six hundred bucks.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
So we're like, I'll flag that or just stay at home.
So just go for the day.
Speaker 9 (36:06):
But you know, it's a busy time and stuff, but
you know, it is what it is, and still plenty
of opportunities around because lots of people there.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
You go harda McGregor out of China. There, what an
interesting life that man leads. Looking after getting shifting our
red meat over there in China, I've got a good
idea for something for you next Dexuly, Michelle, we're going
to do We're going to do a thing called Let's
Chew the Fat. It is nine minutes away from one
(36:37):
twelve to fifty one on the country. Apparently I've been
going over my time Li it's talking, so we're not
going to have as much time as I thought.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
We would to chew the fat. Michelle, you need to
crack the woop a little bit more, I think.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So to speak, poor planning, poor planning on my part.
We were having way too much fun in the other segments.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Hey, exactly, Hey, look I've got it. Do you watch
a bit of Telly?
Speaker 5 (37:10):
I do watch a little bit of Telly.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Yeah, Look, I've got a new favorite program that I've
just watched them, and I'm conscious of the old clock here.
But the hostage have you seen the hostage on Netflix
with Sarah Jones who used to be a big star
on Coronation Street, who's made it into the big time
on the on the old Telly.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Actually, the hostage on Netflix?
Speaker 7 (37:26):
Do you go?
Speaker 3 (37:26):
There's my recommendation?
Speaker 4 (37:28):
No, I haven't. I might have to get stuck into
that one. I do love the good old Midsummer murders. Oh,
I get right into Midsummer murders, just.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Like my wife. She's righted those.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Hey, and anybody should check out the Petty Gower Show
from last night on three two with those AI six dollars.
It's absolute unbelievable that that can be happening, and that
our teenagers can.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Be exposed to that we'll come back shortly and wrap
it all up here on the Country.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Four minutes away from one. That's it for the Country.
We'll do it all again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
I have a great day. I'm Heimus McCay for Jamie
McCay's see you tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (38:06):
That's a long.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Way catch all the latest from the land. It's The
Country Podcast with Jamie McKay. Thanks to Brent, you're specialist
in John Deere construction equipment
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