Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right into the business of the day with the broad
hope that but it will not be mentioned once in
the next ten or fifteen minutes of the Prime Minister
christ of Election's well, there's very.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning to you. Good morning, my could be right now.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I don't want to start this on a superficial note,
but I'm watching the netball last night and you're at
the netball and you're Shane Ritty and me with your
jersey under your jersey, under your jacket, and I'm thinking,
here's the place.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Is the place freezing? What were you doing? I went
there mate, with the jersey on, and then I realized
I had to present the awards and I had a
sports jacket sortskat with me, so I put it on top.
I agree with you, not the ideal look. Shane Ready
is the only person I know that sort of carries
that off pretty well. But yeah, it was, but I
appreciate you noticing those are.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
These are the small things I noticed, and we'll probably
talk more about it come election. The one I liked
about the netball, funnily enough, and I haven't watched a
lot of netball this year, is the joy in the bar.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
It is unreal. Oh, that's why Amanda and I've been
going again. It's the second time I think we've been,
because you go there and it's actually the cute part
is seeing dads with their door and they've been all
face painted up, and the daughters are going off and
the dancing in the middle of the proceedings, and even
the odd dad gets up and goes for a wiggle.
So that's good. It's good fun goes for a wig.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So Trump this morning, EU, the rest of us are
getting a letter. Have we got an original letter yet
or not?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
No letter? Yeah? I mean I've seen the statements and
comments that have been made. We haven't it's fifteen. Yeah,
we haven't been. We haven't received I am not aware
that we've received our letter or a letter. Our last
conversation with jameson Grere who's the Secretary of Trade, with
Tom McClay was a positive one where they actually were
very focused on other countries obviously, and we don't want
(01:38):
to be any worse off than anybody else.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
No, okay, So your answer would be the same. And
I've asked you the several times if it's fifteen it
looks like it's fifteen. Can we trade our way through.
It is what it is, that's life.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well pretty much. Yeah, well, look, we agree with the
Trade Secretary. We would look at it again at the
end of the year and continue ongoing conversations with them,
but we don't want to be any worse off than
anybody else. Our New Zealand exporters into the North America
I check in with quite regularly. They're actually doing really well.
Whether it's the Zest Breez, whether it's the red meat guys,
the wine guys are obviously our second biggest exports there
as well. A lot of them are saying they're able
(02:10):
to pass it on to the American consumer, which is
what has been happening, and again a big market. Just
remember three hundred and sixty million people. If you find
wealthy retailers and wealthy consumers, you can still navigate your
way through it.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Sound zer James Meagher, is any is there a possibility
one Windsor's plan for allegedly regional New Zealand coming out
in terms of the airlines. Is there a possibility that
the government is going to get involved in regionally as
in any way?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Shapulu, No, I don't think so. I mean, you know,
it's pretty challenging business. Regional airlines Sound zero is actually
a really good operator, and you know there might be
opportunities to get the settings right between say any in
New Zealand through checking bags and you know, those sorts
of things, but you know we're not probably we're not
going to be in the business I think of underwriting regionally.
(02:57):
So as James wasting his time, well, I mean he's
going to look at what else there might be to do.
You might be honestly those through check type things that
actually do make a difference to connect to a regionally
aligned into a bigger global network of customers. But you know,
I think as we're found in the past in the Zelands,
you know, it's a really challenging thing. Obviously regional services
are very difficult. But actually, you know, underwriting all of that,
(03:20):
I think it's pretty can't do it.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Nearly half New Zealanders applying for Australian citizenship weren't born here,
So these your fun facts. Does that make us a
springboard to get into Australia And is that going to
be an issue?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah? Look I spoke to Eric Stanford and Brook van
Velden about that just briefly. Our offices, and I just
because I saw that headline as well. But I mean,
the thing that I struggle to understand is if you're
sitting offshore, the choices to go down the pathway for
Australian citizenship or on his Zeland citizenship, it's the same
process pretty much. So I can't see why. You know,
I want to look into it a bit more and
(03:56):
understand what's going on. But the bottom line is, if
you're sitting off or in South Africa and wanging up
where you're going to go, we've got she got very
similar processes. So I don't quite understand why you'd want it.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
So it's not recess really a thing, and elbow is
not going to bring you up and go hold on
to you.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
No, we haven't had that conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Give me some good news on this. Foreigners buying houses.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, so, I mean you saw Winston last week. We're
making progress. I know it's not the answer you want.
You want me to tell me what the answer is
right now, right today? Correct, I get it. But as
I said last week to media, we've got the ongoing
conversations we have, Chris is being made, we have made
We're making really good progress. Which is to say, what's
the holder? Because I've had him on the program a
(04:35):
couple of months ago. That's why last week I didn't
think it was news. He told us several months ago
the same thing he said last week. Yes, and he
seems to understand it needs to be rect No, he does,
he does, and the conversations are good and positive. What
we're discussing is the mechanism by help.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So what are you stuck on numbers for a house?
How high the value of the house.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's one of the conversations here, But there'll be other,
you know, which want to make sure do you mean
they'll be there? What are And we want to make
sure we get the mechanisms right and we've got the
conversations in place.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Is it the problem? It's where they come from?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
No?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Is it the skills and the money they No.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I'm not going to get into it.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I'm not going to get I'm just trying to work out.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I tell you what. You'll be the first to know
when we lead, will you? How about that? Okay? Good?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Promise me that I'll be because I just don't understand
what the hold up is.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, we've had really good conversations obviously we had a
policy at the election. What the policy was completely. He
had a position at the election which he's had to
revisit completely. Both of us are prepared to do that.
We're working our way through.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
It just doesn't seem that complex to take months on end,
because it's got to the point where as far as
I can work out, it's embarrassing. You're you've got a
Golden visa program, which by all accounts is a roaring success.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
We did more than two months, and we've done in
the previous two and a half years.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Terrific, and you can go rent a house. Thanks for coming.
I mean, what's that about? That's what And Winston gets that.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Possibly people are prepared to put their money where their
mouth is and not just too speculative. So it's the
type of and he wants, yeah, well no, no, no no,
But in fairness, we both want to make sure that actually,
if you're going to come to this country and invest,
we should say thank you for bringing your capital here,
and we should find a way to be for you
to be able to purchase the house. We're both aligned
on that. We're just working through the detail.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Will it be weeks or months?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I hope it's very shortly. Yep, weeks, week weeks probably
I could see the next few weeks in my life.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
All I want is for this country to excel tell
me about it. That's and this seems to me to
be one of the easiest decisions that you could possibly make.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
It it is, we are very close. We will have
something to say about it. Sure, I just don't want
to get ahead of it. And fairness Winston. You heard
him say again last week. He's up for a position
where you've got people who are seriously putting serious money
into New Zealand and I you know that you'll be
able to purchase it.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Okay, did I misunderstand the story last week on the vaping?
So you back down on Crown Law advice around vaping
and battery type things and whether they can be incidant
or not instant. Anyway, the point in Crown Law came
to you and said you were being taken to court,
chances are you would lose, and so therefore you're back.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Down on that.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Correct What was going to happen given this was Labour's law.
What were they expecting to happen apart from going to
court and losing?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, I mean that. All I know is that we
had Crown advice that said, you know, we needed to
make the alteration to the law because we were going
to be exposed legally around that. And that's as I
understand what Casey Cossello has done. We are making good progress,
as you would have seen last week. I think big
or Hole came out and said that we actually will
be one of the first countries that we could be
smoke free now hit the five percent target. We will,
(07:37):
I think we get I think we'll be really close
to it. I think there's been a big effort to it.
As Casey has identified before, she said, it's really you know,
long term smokers now that are really the challenge to
move off and that's a harder group.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Jared Kerr, you're watching him over the weekend with the
Kiwi Bank, right, so they do their economic The best
region in the countries are Targo and Southland five out
of ten. That's as good as it gets. Now, this
is not political. I'm not trying to make this political.
We need to do better. Part of that equation is
the Reserve Bank needs to pull their finger out and
get the ract together.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yep am, I correct, well, you've heard them signal that
they want to continue with you know, you've heard them
say publicly they want to do more interest rate cuts.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Well maybe in August.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Maybe in August, YEP does twenty five points to do it. Well,
I mean again, it's about the fact of us getting
inflation down with you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
You've done that, you've done that, Your bit's done. Your
bit's done, but the powers not and the rates aren't,
and the insurances and the Reserve Bank are not playing
their part as good as it gets as five out
of ten.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, I'd also say today I only saw we had
like great farmer confidence numbers come through the people are confidence.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
That's the point, the point when you look at O
Tigo South and why is it five out of ten,
that's where the farmers are.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yeah, but yeah, Like I've been talking to the construction
sector last week and it's been brutal for those guys. Right,
they borrow huge amounts of money, the interest rates have
been really high. They feel big booms, big bus more
so than any other sector. You know, they've started to see, right,
we've got six billion dollars of proper projects, actual proper
projects with real people doing real things. Before Christmas on
(09:06):
those projects. You know, they've been at the bottom of
that's you know, bubbling along, being bounced around around construction,
not being able to get financing in place for projects,
not getting the demand for those projects. That's starting to improve.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
You know with that, do you honestly still believe that
things are coming right? I mean materially, not just I
mean lot of green shoots, but material Look.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I do, I mean, I want to freely admit you know,
it's been a very very difficult time when you look
at the recession for three years essentially it's been back
nothing like that since the early nineties worsen the GFC.
We talk to a lot of people out there and
economists out there, but we genuinely are we are being led.
You're right out through a primary industries lens, which is
as expected as has always been the case, but actually
(09:48):
manufacturing services, you know, they've been really challenged and they've
had but you know, when I look at construction starting
to come, you know, the confidence building, their confidence in
the rural sector difficult, difficult and difficult when you have
we had a great first quarter zero point eight GDP growth.
If you think that time's four is well it's not
times for because Q two looks little that Q two
(10:10):
is challenging because all of a sudden and in the
middle of April, the whole world had to deal with
something called Liberation Day, which was a huge loss of confidence.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
You just told me that we're working through that, which
selling big time, and that's key. We fruit in the
wine and no, no, we are.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Bilaterally, but also across the world though that causes quite
a lot of a loss of confidence for people as well.
But then you saw things like May where we had
our investment boost, you know, launch go off in May June.
You've seen huge good numbers of people wanting to invest.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
We have had economy in twenty twenty six election year
to sell to the people and go is what we did.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's what we have to do. We have that in
twenty two so it's going to be pretty simple. We
better off than you were three years ago. Do you
feel which guys do you think are best gript up
to manage this economy? This country has a huge amount
of potential where we don't just get to ride back
the economic cycle. We actually have to choose to shape
where we want this place to go. And I think
that's the exciting work ahead of us, but tyffical, tough,
(11:01):
get it but making progress. Have a good week.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Good for more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, Listen live
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