Jenee Tibshraeny: NZ Herald Wellington business editor on Labour and National's discussions about long-term infrastructure

The Building Nations conference kicked off today, with the nation's major political parties seemingly aligned on future infrastructure.

National's Chris Bishop and Labour's Kieran McAnulty spoke this afternoon, and they appeared to be united about future partnerships.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heller duple c al THEIG Infrastructure conference in Wellington today,
National and Labor have been making all the right noises
on bipartisanship plans and long term projects that have cross
party support and blah blah. The Herald's Wellington Business editor
g Native Shraney's been listening to them as with us. Now, Hello, jenay, Hey,
So it's Kieren McNulty and Chris Bishop. Is it making
the bipartisanship noises?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, that's right. The conference ended with those two on stage.
They had matching shoes, which was pointed out because they
have somewhat of a bromance. They actually get along quite well.
I'm Karen and Chris Bishop. So they really told the
audience what they wanted to hear, which was that you know,
the two parties could work together agree on key things
around infrastructure. The sector is crying out for certainty, you know,

(00:44):
that's what's required to have long term investment and so on.
So Karen McNulty confirmed that Labor would honor all public
private partnership contracts the government entered into. So you know,
he said they weren't. Labor wasn't opposed to PPPs, but
of course if promises hadn't been funded, that might be

(01:05):
a different story. Chris Bishop, he tooked up how he
was quote continuing Phil Twyford's legacy in the urban development space.
So actually Chris Bishop and Phil Twyford are very aligned
with you know ways they want to change rules to
encourage private investments. He talked about that, and then Chris
Bishop also said he's been briefing opposition in ps to

(01:26):
get their two cents on work underway as part of
the RIMA. So those were the areas they sort of highlighted.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
A gat nice to say these things, but does it
actually last.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, well that's the key question. And you know, this
morning Chris Hipkins addressed the conference and the oil and
gas ban is the prime example. So if Labor gets
into government, it will reintroduce the oil and gas ban. Yeah,
you know, and I I asked him. I said, well,
because Labor makes the argument that doesn't really matter because

(02:00):
no one wants to explore in New Zealand anyway, Like
we've sort of taken all the gas that's easy to
take and no one's looking to really do major exploration.
So I said, well, if that's the case, then why
do we need the band, because if they're not going
to do it anyway, why have the band? It sort
of just creates instability and sovereign risk and so on
and so on. But you know, labor, that is something

(02:20):
that it feels firm on. So you know, there's an
example of you know, of them not doing what sector want,
which is provide certainty. You know. Chrishipkins also said the
government talks about bipartisanship, but they just want labor to
get on board with what they want. They're not truly engaging.
So you know, and then I guess if you point

(02:43):
the finger at Chris Bishop, he national did agree with
Labor on the medium density residential standards. Those are the
ones that mean you can densify more easily. So they
agreed in opposition. They get into government and they and
they pull out of that commitment. So you know, politicians
will politicians.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Was cheap. What were the shoes I.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Think they were They were brown boots like stuff. Yeah,
I couldn't tell if they were that fancy from where
I was sitting, but you know they were. It was
interesting actually with those two on stage, they sounded very
sensible and you did, you did look at them and
think they could be too. You know two people who

(03:24):
who the public warm too, and I think, what.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Are you trying to say? They could be leadership potential.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, I didn't want to go that fast.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
It's fine. I had Thomas problem went that far. He
went that far on Saturday by basically starting the clock
on lux And so I think we can start talking
about this kind of stuff, don't you think. Hey, thank
you very much, Jane, As always, jenetive Trainey. For more
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