Dame Joan Withers: Warehouse Group Chairperson on the Mood of the Boardroom survey, education being a priority

Senior business leaders are rating Christopher Luxon well on keeping his Cabinet focused on delivery, and Education Minister Erica Stanford well on performance. 

More than 100 CEOs and board chairs have been quizzed for today's Mood of the Boardroom survey. 

They've identified energy prices as their biggest concern, followed by the cost of living. 

Dame Joan Withers, Chairperson for the Warehouse Group, told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they’ve one incredibly well, and have addressed key issues up front, or tried to do as much as they can. 

She said that business people are in consensus that we need to pivot and start maximising New Zealand’s opportunities both domestically and also in terms of our place in the world.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Herald's annual Mood of the Boardroom is out. CEOs
and directors say they like the Prime Minister, they like
the Finance Minister, they like the Education Minister, Erica Stanford especially,
but they don't like Adrian All, the Reserve Bank governor.
And the thing that they're most worried about in this
country right now is energy prices. The Warehouse Group chairperson
Dame Joan With has took part in.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
A warning Joan Morning, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm fascinated by your top three issues because I agree
wholeheartedly with your education and truancy. But why did you
put that in there?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I think living in South Auckland, you know, it's from
my entire married life and just seeing what's happening and
operating a bit more in Central City in terms of
my business and corporate activities, I just see the disconnect
and I think we've got major issues if we don't
address this. I think the government are marked with some
really good moves, but I think it's got to be

(00:48):
an imperative because it really underpins the future of New Zealand,
not only in terms of the caliber of what we
do and how we grow as an economy, but I
think by making sure we don't leave people behind as
far as education is concerned, we are doing something to
mitigate the risk of social disruption and disconnect such as

(01:09):
we've seen in other jurisdictions around the world.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
There seems to be a general consensus as well, just
on other cabinet ministers, that Chris Luxen and Nikola Willis
are both doing well but sort of still need to
prove themselves. Would you agree with that.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
I think they've done incredibly well. I think they have
addressed the key issues upfront or tried to do as
much as they can, which is stabilizing the economy, trying
to get gross back, getting inflation down. But I think,
you know, having just had the chance to glance through
the article in this morning's Herald, certain consensus from business

(01:42):
people is right now we need to pivot. We need
to get on with things. We need to start thinking
about our future and get on with maximizing the New
Zealand's opportunity both to MESSIPLEEP but also obviously in terms
of our place in the world.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yes, so are you looking for a little bit of
that big picture stuff about where they take us?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think that would be good. I totally understand that
the hierarchy of priorities and you know, the economy is
still doing it really tough, and it's interesting reading that.
You know, people are probably more positive about the future,
but a lot of companies are seeing the hero and
now is pretty grim. So the government really had to

(02:25):
address that. But yeah, I think we all want to
put our chins up and say, where's New Zealand's case
in the world going forward? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Would you agree with the sentiment which comes through really
strongly that Adrian or has completely overcooked us in both directions.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I'm not prepared to comment on Adrian's performance as governor
of the Reserve Bancome a director of vein Zed. I
can understand how difficult it is, and I think even
now if you read some of the articles, I think
people are saying, yes, maybe for the cycle, we're on
top of we're on top of inflation. But you know,
I can understand that that essential, that he got that

(03:01):
under control. It's just now about how quickly people respond
to an ocr cut with've seen one, what happens next,
and you're just making sure that we don't all the
momentum now going.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Forward, what are you looking for Joanyrique, are you putting
your money on twenty five or fifty next week?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, I'm praying for fifty.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, aren't we all? J Joan, thank you are really appreciated.
Dame Joan with as the Warehouse Group chairperson. For more
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