Christchurch City Council's been selected to act as a one-stop consenting authority for large-scale supermarket developments.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it's the latest step in the Government plan to make New Zealand attractive for new operators.
She says developers previously had to navigate up to 66 different councils, processes and responses.
Willis says the aim is to boost competition in a sector dominated by Foodstuffs and Woolworths by letting new entrants deal with just one authority.
Business Canterbury CEO Leeann Watson told John MacDonald that the intention of having a one-stop shop regardless of the number of sites you’re operating on is sound.
She says that they’ve heard from businesses who operate across multiple sites that there’s a real inconsistency across the local authorities, which can be incredibly painful to deal with.
But, Watson says, whether or not this plan creates the right incentives is still yet to be seen.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You may recall that we've been having through the regular
catch ups with Leanne Watson from Business Canterbury and today
time for the latest one. Nice to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Nice to see you too, John so hot off.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The press news from the government that it is setting
up a new one stop shop for supermarket consenting and
it's given the job of running that one stop shop
to the christ ur At City Council. What do you
make of that?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Yeah, look, it's really interesting. I think obviously there's been
a long discussion around trying to encourage more competition in
the supermarket space, so I imagine this is aimed at
trying to do just that. Whether or not this will
provide the right incentive to get more investors here to
build more supermarkets has probably yet to be seen. What
(00:55):
I do like about it is the fact that it
does appear to be trying to reduce compliance and regulation
and making it a heck of a lot easier for
people to actually get in here, run businesses and invest here.
So I think that's great, But whether or not it
does create the right incentives is probably yet to be seen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
How much do you think it's the government doing something
to say we're doing something to get the supermarket competition
up and running as much as anything else.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, look, I'm not sure about that. I mean, you know,
I know it's a really hard It's been a hard
discussion for lots and lots of people, probably including the government,
to try and create that real competition, and so you know,
I think they keep chipping away at trying to find
solutions to address the issue. So good on them, you know,
for continuing to focus on that because I think it
(01:41):
is an important aspect where you know, we know the
cost of living has been really challenging for many many
families and we know that the cost of you know,
shopping at the supermarket is a contributor to that. But
as I say, whether or not this will achieve the
outcome is probably yet to be seen. Back, good on
them for decisions.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Nicol will assay see him. Till now, new supermarket developers
have faced having to deal with up to sixty six
different councils, sixty six different processes and sixty six different
responses saying that that's a dis incentive to setting up
shop here. But I can't imagine that even any of
the foreign chains would have wanted or would have planned
or would plan to come here with the intention of
(02:20):
setting up in sixty six different sites and ones.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's interesting. I mean what we do
here from a lot of businesses who do operate across
multiple sites across New Zealand and even in fact across Canbary,
is the real inconsistency across the local authorities that they
are dealing with, and that can be incredibly painful when
you know you're having to reinvent or redo everything, even
(02:44):
if it's just across Canbary, you know local authority. So
that intention of having you know, one stop shop, I guess,
regardless of how many sites you are operating on, I
think is a really sound one.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But again they'll have to work out the different requirements
of each location.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Absolutely, I mean, from the one stop shops point of view,
the complexities around setting that up and the operationalizing it
I think will be incredibly compident. But the intent behind
it to attract businesses here, to make it easier for
people to set up in multiple locations with consistent regulations
or application of regulation and consenting I think is a
(03:23):
really sound one, but it.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Work to be done behind the scenes, so make sure
that the rules are the same for everybody. We'll get
on to e can shortly and regional councils and the
government's move But in the course of the conversation about
it this morning, we've been talking while I flowed to
the idea of a unitary authority for Greater christ Church.
You know, rather than ditching the regional councils, it seems
to me that it makes sense to bring all of
(03:45):
the councils together.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
What do you think, Look, I think that you know,
there's been an ongoing debate and discussion for many many
years around around all these issues. The one thing that
we have been advocating for at Business Canery for many
many years is how do we make sure that we
make it as easy as possible for businesses to do business?
And you know, local government plays a big part of that.
(04:08):
So removing red tape, reducing compliance and therefore reducing cost
is what we've been after. So you know, yesterday's announcement,
you know, we were excited by that. How that will
operate in practice, I guess will be interesting and making
sure that there is good representation across you know, the
communities is really important. What we know in Canterburary is
(04:28):
we have you know, a group called the Canary Meural
Forum and actually Business Canory has been doing quite a
lot of work with the Meeral Forum over the last
eighteen months around creating a sheared ambition and a collective
vision for the region. And that's working in conjunction with
the private sector. So you know, that regional lens and
that collaboration across the eleven local authorities at Cannaburary already
(04:49):
exists and so you know, if we can do more
in that space, I think that's a positive outcome.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
In councils that are worst enemies. Do you think if
you look at them, even though I think that what
the government's doing is they could do better and unitary
authorities would be one of them. Do you think the
likes of he Can have been their own worst enemies
and don't have anything to really complain about now that
the government's coming after them.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah. I mean we do get a lot of feedback,
particularly from businesses who operate in the rural areas around
environment Canbrary. I think some of the bureaucracy and some
of the I guess, the hoops that businesses have to
jump through to actually operate, and some of the ways
in which they make decisions, you know, definitely leave businesses
(05:36):
scratching ahead and wondering why on earth you know that
some of those decisions are made. So look, I think
it's a good opportunity to review all of that, to
get some common sense around how decisions are made and
how we make it easier for businesses to actually just
get on and run their businesses.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Do you think, though, there's always going to be at
tension there because you've got the likes of Environment Canibary,
You've got the job of enforcing the IRMA and who
knows what shape that's going to be in a few
weeks time, So they're doing that, and then you've got
businesses who want to do what they're doing. They're always
going to be that tension given that the job that
counsels regional councils specifically are given in relation to resource
(06:14):
management and businesses wanting to use those resources to make
a buck.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, look, to a certain extent, I agree there will
always be some areas of debate and potentially some tension.
But the one thing that businesses want is they want
certainty around what the regulations are and how they will
be applied and how they will be applied consistently across
the locations that businesses are operating in. So that's the
(06:39):
first thing, you know, if we can focus on getting
that right, I think that will be a huge way
towards actually helping businesses. Businesses want to do the right things.
You know, they don't wake up each morning going how
can we destroy the environment, because actually, if we look
at consumer demands and expectations across you know, consumers and
how they have been changing actually doing the right thing
(07:01):
by protecting the environment and you know, making sure that
you're a good employer and all of those sorts of things.
That is just part of being a good business nowadays.
And so I don't think that we need to put
unnecessary barriers in place for businesses to have to operate within. Sure,
there needs to be some regulations, and there needs to
be some rules, and there needs to be certain thresholds
that businesses need to meet without a doubt, and I
(07:24):
don't think you know, too many businesses would actually argue
with that, but they need to be based on good
common sense and there needs to be a trade off
discussion on some areas as well.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And then it comes through the relationship business has will
will have with employers and Keevy Saber is one aspect
of that, and we'll talk about that next well. And
the Kiwi Saber policy proposal from National I think some
people thought lots of government's happening straight away, but it's
a policy proposal would see employers contributing well, in theory,
(07:54):
contributing more to people's chevy saber. What reactions have you
heard from the business sector.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Look, it's pretty hot off the press, so haven't necessarily
heard too much reaction at this stage. But what I
would say is that, you know, overall concept of contributing
more to key saber, I think you know, businesses would
be largely support of ensuring that, you know, their employees
are well supported into their retirement and into their first
(08:21):
homes and all of those sorts of things. But I
think we need to be really mindful of right now,
it's been a pretty pretty tough business environment for businesses
to operate in and this will come at an additional cost,
so that will certainly be on the minds of businesses.
I think the phasing in that has been signaled as
really important because that does provide you know, sufficient time
(08:43):
and notice for businesses to actually start considering what the
financial implications might might look like and for start planning
to that because in the past we've had you know,
things like minimum wage increases, you know, with sort of
three month notice periods, which has really been tough on businesses,
particularly small business.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So in relation to remuneration packages and businesses saying we're
employees saying to people that this is your pay, we
can take your contribution of three percent, and then our
contribution can come from that as well. And you know,
you've lost six percent And we had a key Saver
providers at the start of the week when National Announcers
policy that that needs to change. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So is that in regards to the way in which
people are putting those policies in place.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So rather than the employer saying we're giving you the
equivalent of three percent, we're actually taking it out of
your pay and not giving it to you and that's
our contribution.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, yeah, Look, I think my understanding is about fifty
to fifty. So some organizations operate on a total remuneration policy,
which is a key savers included in their total salary
package and then others operate on a over the top
of the remuneration package. So look, we may see more
businesses move towards an inclusive total remuneration policy, which will
(10:00):
be interesting because I think that will probably work against
what the government are trying to.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Is that what equates to a reduction in pay, wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It well, not necessarily, it just well, yeah, it depends
on if you're transitioning from one thing to another, and
of course you know, there would need to be lots
of consultation between the employer and the employee because what
you can't do is do that. You can't just reduce
people's pay. So yeah, there will be some complexity and
there'll certainly be you know, some concern particularly from those
(10:29):
small businesses around this is another additional cost for them
in terms of running their business. But overall, the concept
I think is sound in terms of how we move
towards increasing people's retirement schemes.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Let's look at littles and port what's going on. So
you've got MRSK and we see their containers you know
at the port, we see it going up and see
them going up on Brahm Street and stone Higway one everywhere,
and they've got these congestion fees for containers going through Littleton.
What's that all about.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, Look, we've just started hearing some murmurs across our
export community around this, and so we don't have all
the details as yet, but I think you know, the
one thing that we are definitely keeping a close eye
on is what sort of impact might this have, whether
or not that will increase costs for importers and exporters,
which is again not a great thing, but also making
(11:18):
sure that it doesn't cause delay. You know, right now,
as an economy, canory is going really well. You know,
we've got good growth in our exports. We need to
make sure that when we've got those exports ready to go,
we can actually get them out of the port, and
when we've got imports coming in, particularly at this time
of the year, that we can get them in efficiently
so that the retailers can get the stock out and
sell them. So we're keeping a close eye on it
(11:39):
to just understand what that means, and we hope it
is a temporary thing as opposed to a long term issue.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So does it suggest that the port asn't coping with demand.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah, I'm not sure, John, I think there's clearly a
bit of an issue there in terms of if we've
got a congestion charge that would suggest a congestion issue,
and so understanding why that is occurring and how we
can actually try and reduce the congestion and therefore hopefully
reducing it any additional costs will be you know, something
that will be having conversations with the port about and
(12:11):
trying to understand what this impacts, you know, across across
the export and import community.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Because ports are competitives now, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Absolutely, you know they could look go to Timbery or
go to Port Charmers.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, the last thing that
we want is for us to be sidelined because we
cannot efficiently get products in and out through through through Littleton.
So I don't think anyone wants that, probably including Littleton Port.
So yeah, we've got we've got to find out a
bit more about it, and let's hype. As A said,
it's a temporary thing as opposed to a longer term issue.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
The official cash rate, or the update on the official
cash rate, is due to come through often, well pretty
much every time, and it's expected to be reduced further.
You see and hear on the news people saying, oh,
we'll have more cash to spend, more cash to spend.
How realistic is it at the business front when that happens,
that there is more money coming through the tour and
(13:07):
given the state of playing with the economy, what's your
expectation that that would be the case when this announcement's
made this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, I mean certainly, you know, we all hope and
expect to see a reduction. I think that would be
really helpful for both businesses and consumers. It's an interesting
question around will that translate into you know, people going
out there and spending more. It's a sentiment, yeah, it is,
and I think I think it will. But what we
(13:37):
need to understand as well from a business point of view.
First of all, you know, businesses have wracked up a
lot of debt over the last few years, and so
that's one thing. And so what we're seeing is when
businesses do get a little bit more cash, they're actually
paying off debt rather than investing right now in new
plant and equipment. The intention moving forward is really high
in terms of those businesses wanting to invest in new
(13:59):
plant and equipment. The second thing is we've if we're
continuing to see this really stubborn you know, consumer confidence
and so you know, heading into Christmas, we'll see a
bit of a shift in that as we always do,
which is great. You know, businesses really need to be
supported locally, and we will see I think if people
(14:20):
can come off with some of those fixed mortgages, we
will see more money splashing around. It's just a degree
of how much and how soon.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So how the businesses and can be feeling human weeks
till Christmas and for a lot of them, retail especially
speak time a year, how they feeling about it?
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Yeah, in general. So we've just done our largest latest
Canterbury Quarterly Business Survey and so we haven't done the
full analysis of the results yet. However, what I can
tell you is business confidence is continuing to lift, which
is great and actually over the last couple of quarters,
I mean our business confidence has been much higher than
the rest of New Zealand, and I think that is
demonstrated by how our economy is performing again much higher
(14:58):
than the rest of New Zealand. There's definitely some sectors
that are more optimistic than others. But we have seen
you know, retail sales increase in the last quarter as well,
which is great, but again you would expect to see
that at this time of the year. So you know, overall,
I think Canterbury as an economy is doing really well.
I think we're heading into next year on a really
solid platform. I think intentions from businesses to hire more
(15:23):
people and actually get out there and invest in new
plant and equipment and buy new stuff is certainly quite high.
So we think, you know, we're heading into twenty twenty
six really optimistically.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right in the central city is looking busy, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yea, it certainly is. I'm heading there shortly, all.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Right, I think gets so much. Nice to see you great.
Thanks John Liam Wilson from Business Canterbury.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news Talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You may recall that we've been having through the regular
catch ups with Leanne Watson from Business Canterbury and today
time for the latest one. Nice to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Nice to see you too, John so hot off.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The press news from the government that it is setting
up a new one stop shop for supermarket consenting and
it's given the job of running that one stop shop
to the christ ur At City Council. What do you
make of that?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Yeah, look, it's really interesting. I think obviously there's been
a long discussion around trying to encourage more competition in
the supermarket space, so I imagine this is aimed at
trying to do just that. Whether or not this will
provide the right incentive to get more investors here to
build more supermarkets has probably yet to be seen. What
(00:55):
I do like about it is the fact that it
does appear to be trying to reduce compliance and regulation
and making it a heck of a lot easier for
people to actually get in here, run businesses and invest here.
So I think that's great, But whether or not it
does create the right incentives is probably yet to be seen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
How much do you think it's the government doing something
to say we're doing something to get the supermarket competition
up and running as much as anything else.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, look, I'm not sure about that. I mean, you know,
I know it's a really hard It's been a hard
discussion for lots and lots of people, probably including the government,
to try and create that real competition, and so you know,
I think they keep chipping away at trying to find
solutions to address the issue. So good on them, you know,
for continuing to focus on that because I think it
(01:41):
is an important aspect where you know, we know the
cost of living has been really challenging for many many
families and we know that the cost of you know,
shopping at the supermarket is a contributor to that. But
as I say, whether or not this will achieve the
outcome is probably yet to be seen. Back, good on
them for decisions.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Nicol will assay see him. Till now, new supermarket developers
have faced having to deal with up to sixty six
different councils, sixty six different processes and sixty six different
responses saying that that's a dis incentive to setting up
shop here. But I can't imagine that even any of
the foreign chains would have wanted or would have planned
or would plan to come here with the intention of
(02:20):
setting up in sixty six different sites and ones.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's interesting. I mean what we do
here from a lot of businesses who do operate across
multiple sites across New Zealand and even in fact across Canbary,
is the real inconsistency across the local authorities that they
are dealing with, and that can be incredibly painful when
you know you're having to reinvent or redo everything, even
(02:44):
if it's just across Canbary, you know local authority. So
that intention of having you know, one stop shop, I guess,
regardless of how many sites you are operating on, I
think is a really sound one.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But again they'll have to work out the different requirements
of each location.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Absolutely, I mean, from the one stop shops point of view,
the complexities around setting that up and the operationalizing it
I think will be incredibly compident. But the intent behind
it to attract businesses here, to make it easier for
people to set up in multiple locations with consistent regulations
or application of regulation and consenting I think is a
(03:23):
really sound one, but it.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Work to be done behind the scenes, so make sure
that the rules are the same for everybody. We'll get
on to e can shortly and regional councils and the
government's move But in the course of the conversation about
it this morning, we've been talking while I flowed to
the idea of a unitary authority for Greater christ Church.
You know, rather than ditching the regional councils, it seems
to me that it makes sense to bring all of
(03:45):
the councils together.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
What do you think, Look, I think that you know,
there's been an ongoing debate and discussion for many many
years around around all these issues. The one thing that
we have been advocating for at Business Canery for many
many years is how do we make sure that we
make it as easy as possible for businesses to do business?
And you know, local government plays a big part of that.
(04:08):
So removing red tape, reducing compliance and therefore reducing cost
is what we've been after. So you know, yesterday's announcement,
you know, we were excited by that. How that will
operate in practice, I guess will be interesting and making
sure that there is good representation across you know, the
communities is really important. What we know in Canterburary is
(04:28):
we have you know, a group called the Canary Meural
Forum and actually Business Canory has been doing quite a
lot of work with the Meeral Forum over the last
eighteen months around creating a sheared ambition and a collective
vision for the region. And that's working in conjunction with
the private sector. So you know, that regional lens and
that collaboration across the eleven local authorities at Cannaburary already
(04:49):
exists and so you know, if we can do more
in that space, I think that's a positive outcome.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
In councils that are worst enemies. Do you think if
you look at them, even though I think that what
the government's doing is they could do better and unitary
authorities would be one of them. Do you think the
likes of he Can have been their own worst enemies
and don't have anything to really complain about now that
the government's coming after them.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah. I mean we do get a lot of feedback,
particularly from businesses who operate in the rural areas around
environment Canbrary. I think some of the bureaucracy and some
of the I guess, the hoops that businesses have to
jump through to actually operate, and some of the ways
in which they make decisions, you know, definitely leave businesses
(05:36):
scratching ahead and wondering why on earth you know that
some of those decisions are made. So look, I think
it's a good opportunity to review all of that, to
get some common sense around how decisions are made and
how we make it easier for businesses to actually just
get on and run their businesses.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Do you think, though, there's always going to be at
tension there because you've got the likes of Environment Canibary,
You've got the job of enforcing the IRMA and who
knows what shape that's going to be in a few
weeks time, So they're doing that, and then you've got
businesses who want to do what they're doing. They're always
going to be that tension given that the job that
counsels regional councils specifically are given in relation to resource
(06:14):
management and businesses wanting to use those resources to make
a buck.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, look, to a certain extent, I agree there will
always be some areas of debate and potentially some tension.
But the one thing that businesses want is they want
certainty around what the regulations are and how they will
be applied and how they will be applied consistently across
the locations that businesses are operating in. So that's the
(06:39):
first thing, you know, if we can focus on getting
that right, I think that will be a huge way
towards actually helping businesses. Businesses want to do the right things.
You know, they don't wake up each morning going how
can we destroy the environment, because actually, if we look
at consumer demands and expectations across you know, consumers and
how they have been changing actually doing the right thing
(07:01):
by protecting the environment and you know, making sure that
you're a good employer and all of those sorts of things.
That is just part of being a good business nowadays.
And so I don't think that we need to put
unnecessary barriers in place for businesses to have to operate within. Sure,
there needs to be some regulations, and there needs to
be some rules, and there needs to be certain thresholds
that businesses need to meet without a doubt, and I
(07:24):
don't think you know, too many businesses would actually argue
with that, but they need to be based on good
common sense and there needs to be a trade off
discussion on some areas as well.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And then it comes through the relationship business has will
will have with employers and Keevy Saber is one aspect
of that, and we'll talk about that next well. And
the Kiwi Saber policy proposal from National I think some
people thought lots of government's happening straight away, but it's
a policy proposal would see employers contributing well, in theory,
(07:54):
contributing more to people's chevy saber. What reactions have you
heard from the business sector.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Look, it's pretty hot off the press, so haven't necessarily
heard too much reaction at this stage. But what I
would say is that, you know, overall concept of contributing
more to key saber, I think you know, businesses would
be largely support of ensuring that, you know, their employees
are well supported into their retirement and into their first
(08:21):
homes and all of those sorts of things. But I
think we need to be really mindful of right now,
it's been a pretty pretty tough business environment for businesses
to operate in and this will come at an additional cost,
so that will certainly be on the minds of businesses.
I think the phasing in that has been signaled as
really important because that does provide you know, sufficient time
(08:43):
and notice for businesses to actually start considering what the
financial implications might might look like and for start planning
to that because in the past we've had you know,
things like minimum wage increases, you know, with sort of
three month notice periods, which has really been tough on businesses,
particularly small business.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So in relation to remuneration packages and businesses saying we're
employees saying to people that this is your pay, we
can take your contribution of three percent, and then our
contribution can come from that as well. And you know,
you've lost six percent And we had a key Saver
providers at the start of the week when National Announcers
policy that that needs to change. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So is that in regards to the way in which
people are putting those policies in place.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So rather than the employer saying we're giving you the
equivalent of three percent, we're actually taking it out of
your pay and not giving it to you and that's
our contribution.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, yeah, Look, I think my understanding is about fifty
to fifty. So some organizations operate on a total remuneration policy,
which is a key savers included in their total salary
package and then others operate on a over the top
of the remuneration package. So look, we may see more
businesses move towards an inclusive total remuneration policy, which will
(10:00):
be interesting because I think that will probably work against
what the government are trying to.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Is that what equates to a reduction in pay, wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It well, not necessarily, it just well, yeah, it depends
on if you're transitioning from one thing to another, and
of course you know, there would need to be lots
of consultation between the employer and the employee because what
you can't do is do that. You can't just reduce
people's pay. So yeah, there will be some complexity and
there'll certainly be you know, some concern particularly from those
(10:29):
small businesses around this is another additional cost for them
in terms of running their business. But overall, the concept
I think is sound in terms of how we move
towards increasing people's retirement schemes.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Let's look at littles and port what's going on. So
you've got MRSK and we see their containers you know
at the port, we see it going up and see
them going up on Brahm Street and stone Higway one everywhere,
and they've got these congestion fees for containers going through Littleton.
What's that all about.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, Look, we've just started hearing some murmurs across our
export community around this, and so we don't have all
the details as yet, but I think you know, the
one thing that we are definitely keeping a close eye
on is what sort of impact might this have, whether
or not that will increase costs for importers and exporters,
which is again not a great thing, but also making
(11:18):
sure that it doesn't cause delay. You know, right now,
as an economy, canory is going really well. You know,
we've got good growth in our exports. We need to
make sure that when we've got those exports ready to go,
we can actually get them out of the port, and
when we've got imports coming in, particularly at this time
of the year, that we can get them in efficiently
so that the retailers can get the stock out and
sell them. So we're keeping a close eye on it
(11:39):
to just understand what that means, and we hope it
is a temporary thing as opposed to a long term issue.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So does it suggest that the port asn't coping with demand.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah, I'm not sure, John, I think there's clearly a
bit of an issue there in terms of if we've
got a congestion charge that would suggest a congestion issue,
and so understanding why that is occurring and how we
can actually try and reduce the congestion and therefore hopefully
reducing it any additional costs will be you know, something
that will be having conversations with the port about and
(12:11):
trying to understand what this impacts, you know, across across
the export and import community.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Because ports are competitives now, aren't they.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Absolutely, you know they could look go to Timbery or
go to Port Charmers.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, the last thing that
we want is for us to be sidelined because we
cannot efficiently get products in and out through through through Littleton.
So I don't think anyone wants that, probably including Littleton Port.
So yeah, we've got we've got to find out a
bit more about it, and let's hype. As A said,
it's a temporary thing as opposed to a longer term issue.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
The official cash rate, or the update on the official
cash rate, is due to come through often, well pretty
much every time, and it's expected to be reduced further.
You see and hear on the news people saying, oh,
we'll have more cash to spend, more cash to spend.
How realistic is it at the business front when that happens,
that there is more money coming through the tour and
(13:07):
given the state of playing with the economy, what's your
expectation that that would be the case when this announcement's
made this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, I mean certainly, you know, we all hope and
expect to see a reduction. I think that would be
really helpful for both businesses and consumers. It's an interesting
question around will that translate into you know, people going
out there and spending more. It's a sentiment, yeah, it is,
and I think I think it will. But what we
(13:37):
need to understand as well from a business point of view.
First of all, you know, businesses have wracked up a
lot of debt over the last few years, and so
that's one thing. And so what we're seeing is when
businesses do get a little bit more cash, they're actually
paying off debt rather than investing right now in new
plant and equipment. The intention moving forward is really high
in terms of those businesses wanting to invest in new
(13:59):
plant and equipment. The second thing is we've if we're
continuing to see this really stubborn you know, consumer confidence
and so you know, heading into Christmas, we'll see a
bit of a shift in that as we always do,
which is great. You know, businesses really need to be
supported locally, and we will see I think if people
(14:20):
can come off with some of those fixed mortgages, we
will see more money splashing around. It's just a degree
of how much and how soon.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So how the businesses and can be feeling human weeks
till Christmas and for a lot of them, retail especially
speak time a year, how they feeling about it?
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Yeah, in general. So we've just done our largest latest
Canterbury Quarterly Business Survey and so we haven't done the
full analysis of the results yet. However, what I can
tell you is business confidence is continuing to lift, which
is great and actually over the last couple of quarters,
I mean our business confidence has been much higher than
the rest of New Zealand, and I think that is
demonstrated by how our economy is performing again much higher
(14:58):
than the rest of New Zealand. There's definitely some sectors
that are more optimistic than others. But we have seen
you know, retail sales increase in the last quarter as well,
which is great, but again you would expect to see
that at this time of the year. So you know, overall,
I think Canterbury as an economy is doing really well.
I think we're heading into next year on a really
solid platform. I think intentions from businesses to hire more
(15:23):
people and actually get out there and invest in new
plant and equipment and buy new stuff is certainly quite high.
So we think, you know, we're heading into twenty twenty
six really optimistically.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Right in the central city is looking busy, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yea, it certainly is. I'm heading there shortly, all.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Right, I think gets so much. Nice to see you great.
Thanks John Liam Wilson from Business Canterbury.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news Talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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