May 17, 2026 • 9 mins
Jeff Grant cites frustration around red tape that he believes is hindering the local economy.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bordered as mad and Jersey Chairs Gordon Granbian, Welcome back
to the muster. Jeff Grants joins US Northern Southland farmer,
business owner and is involved in many committees and continues
to do so. Good afternoon, Jeff, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Andy? And nice to be getting into the second part
of May and the ground condition is still pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Quite a bit going on in the political landscape at
the moment, but we'll start off of this. The OECD
reporters out talking about increasing production and cross border trade
moving this out to twenty thirty four, So it's all
about upping amping production, would you say, yeah, Look.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I think the interesting thing these reports are the sort
of predictions and so you never guarantee what might happen.
But the cross border trade in the world has increased
over the last twenty years, and so seventeen percent of
everything that's producer now trade across nations. But they're predicting
it's going to get out to twenty two percent by
(01:00):
twenty thirty four. And that is just a reflection that
the increase in productivity in agriculture doesn't necessarily happen in
the countries that are consuming the product, and so a
good signing for New Zealand because it just means there
will be increasing demand for carbohydrates protein and that will
(01:22):
continue to be dragged out of countries that are producing
it versus countries that are consuming. And so while there's
been some difficulty around trade over the last three or
four years with Trump especially driving tariffs, I think that
internationally it will start to settle down by twenty thirty
and change in the American politics we'll probably see settling
(01:48):
down and I think will continue to see reasonably strong
position around New Zealand commodities.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So it's fair to say you say that New Zealand's
looking pretty good as being an exporting nation.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
The production by twenty thirty five, which is only ten
years away, has to increase by about fifteen percent to
continue to feed the world basically, and on that basis,
that would tell you that we're not still producing enough
internationally and we've got to produce more. But the carbohydrate
(02:21):
consumption is going to have over three hundred per person
by then in terms of middle income and that's just
a strengthening of their buying power, which will reflect and
their ability to provide commodities.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Regular treat quagmire, stalling, farming. Is this all about paperwork?
Just doing the obvious?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Oh look, I just had a recent experience. I'm not
mentioning the council who involved, but trying to get a
coded compliance for a particular part of a building that
was done some years ago and hadn't for some reason
been signed off and the bureaucracy to get simply somebody
to inspect it got that took five minutes. But the
(03:02):
ability to get that the documentation signed off through a
third party process that the councils now use has just
gone on for six weeks and now being told that
perhap up to twenty days to complete this. And I
mean all it is is just saying yes, the building
is for purpose. And this is a reflection of what
(03:26):
we're seeing time time again. You know, consent process is
taken too long, and that on the basis of that,
you know, people just getting frustrated paying a lot of
money to get somewhere and not actually achieving it. Consents
taking longer than n actual build, which just seems to
me to be stupid.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Perhaps is the case of these councils just having to
cover their butts and going through process.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, look at some of it will have dragged on
from the lucky building days. But the reality is the
streamlining of that ability to have uniform standard conditions cross
the country hasn't been hasn't succeeded. I think that's part
of the IRI may reform may may give us that,
but the reality again, we're probably looking out till twenty
(04:11):
eight twenty nine before any of that will be implemented.
It's a bit like this whole local government reform. It
just seems to me to be starting to get into
a position where we're seen. But some pieces being considered
around the edges that I thought of the latest one
to need in them. Why tech you might look at
joining and then Tiger being the central targer on q
elit see you all being one. The divity you're going
(04:34):
to have in some of these areas pre sounds a
good example. The debt per household is twenty eight thousand.
Where you look at Central Tiger District Council or South
and District Council, the debt per household is two thousand
and so the capacity you get some of these councilors
to join together is going to be really hard. And
(04:55):
I just see the same as South and it just
doesn't seem to be a clear pattern as to what's
going to be done. Gore looking at going to Cluveland,
goodness sake, you know, I just don't think that's going
to solve anything.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Three months it doesn't seem like this is long enough
to get anything done in any way, shape or form,
especially given bureaucracy.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
There are some councils collectively around New Zealand that have
probably progressed this Taranaki Waketto that would probably meet the
three months deadline. Southland should. I mean, it just thinks
pretty simple. But all I've got to do is indicate
what process and what sort of design of the future
(05:37):
council might look like within the ninety days. To be honest,
I thought the ninety days I should have made it sixty.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
What positives from your perspective, I suppose, Jef, do you
see you from algamations? I mean we've all heard the
figure the local elections six months ago, over two hundred
positions worth filled councilors and mayors unelected, and that's what
really got people grumpy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah. Look, I think what people want or two things.
One is a rate base that fairly reflects the cost
and therefore get out of doing the stuff that you
don't really need to do. It's nice to have sort
of mentality that's crept into councils over the last decade
or so. And the second is that they just want
(06:23):
to simplified system, that is that when you want to
get something done, it gets done and not tied up
in the bureaucracy that we see today.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Now, you talked about those debt levels Queenstown being twenty
five k whatever it was for a household as opposed
to tea or twenty eight thousand. Sorry I was ten corrected,
But don't historical debt levels stay retained within that current
region though within that council jurisdiction.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yes they do, and if you look at the reformers
back in nineteen eighty nine, that's correct what happened. But
it eventually gets amalgamated. You know, you do the rating
on the basis there for a period of time, but
it all gets a related into the problem you've got
this time around, the debt level differences between councils is
much greater. I mean, Queenstown is still trying to seek
(07:10):
together the ceiling lifted. I'm going to say it's about
one hundred and eighty percent of rates. Now they wanting
to shift it to two hundred and thirty percent of rates.
So the problem you get to is that the debtly
will you'd combined the councils, but the ability to move
in one area geographically to get things done is still
hamstrung by the debt that's in the household.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, it'll be interesting given Queenstown still got a lot
going on there regarding monetary ways. Just finally as well
in New Zealand. First, Winston Peters indicating that New Zealand
first want to by be in z Bank from its
Australian pearance and merge it with Kiwibank, creating the National
Bank of New Zealand. Do you think this is a
good thing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, I can understand ideologically from New Zealand first. I
mean this wouldn't be a position unusual from what they've
had before in terms of someone that's nationalization of infrastructure
or key key assets in New Zealand. I think the
differently you have with this is that it starts in
to indicate to international investors that will money invested in
(08:17):
New Zealand may be at risk at some point in
time when a government decides that it wants to nationalize something.
So for that reason, I think there is some difficulty
in sort of pursuing this type of policy. The other
part of that is what is it actually going to achieve?
Because it's still going to operate commercially, it's not going
to provide necessarily a benchmark that would lower the other
(08:42):
three major Australian banks, and therefore I'm not sure what
the final outcome would be.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, Kewi Bank, I think it was created around two
thousand and one, so perhaps merging something I don't know.
Winston's always going to do the patriotism card though too.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, look, there's a good argument in terms of Kiwi
Bank really capaalize it to a point where it does
it does become effective in terms of it's challenging the
other four, but I don't I don't see that happening.
That requires, you know, substantial capital. While they talk about
five hundred million or something at the moment, the reality
is Kiwi Bank would need to be up around ten
(09:19):
or fifteen percent of the market share before it would
start having an influence. Combining the two doesn't necessarily say
that it's going to change because they're still going to
operate commercially and the commercial market will be what the
four are doing.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Chief Grant enjoy the sunshine this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Thanks any kitchen bag.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Jeff Grant underrating of the thoughts they especially around New
Zealand first proposing to buy Being Z and merging it
with Kiwibanks. So it is election year after all. Dean
Rabbage is up next. Let's talk a bit of war
and positivity gi anyone
Bordered as mad and Jersey Chairs Gordon Granbian, Welcome back
to the muster. Jeff Grants joins US Northern Southland farmer,
business owner and is involved in many committees and continues
to do so. Good afternoon, Jeff, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Andy? And nice to be getting into the second part
of May and the ground condition is still pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Quite a bit going on in the political landscape at
the moment, but we'll start off of this. The OECD
reporters out talking about increasing production and cross border trade
moving this out to twenty thirty four, So it's all
about upping amping production, would you say, yeah, Look.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I think the interesting thing these reports are the sort
of predictions and so you never guarantee what might happen.
But the cross border trade in the world has increased
over the last twenty years, and so seventeen percent of
everything that's producer now trade across nations. But they're predicting
it's going to get out to twenty two percent by
(01:00):
twenty thirty four. And that is just a reflection that
the increase in productivity in agriculture doesn't necessarily happen in
the countries that are consuming the product, and so a
good signing for New Zealand because it just means there
will be increasing demand for carbohydrates protein and that will
(01:22):
continue to be dragged out of countries that are producing
it versus countries that are consuming. And so while there's
been some difficulty around trade over the last three or
four years with Trump especially driving tariffs, I think that
internationally it will start to settle down by twenty thirty
and change in the American politics we'll probably see settling
(01:48):
down and I think will continue to see reasonably strong
position around New Zealand commodities.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So it's fair to say you say that New Zealand's
looking pretty good as being an exporting nation.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
The production by twenty thirty five, which is only ten
years away, has to increase by about fifteen percent to
continue to feed the world basically, and on that basis,
that would tell you that we're not still producing enough
internationally and we've got to produce more. But the carbohydrate
(02:21):
consumption is going to have over three hundred per person
by then in terms of middle income and that's just
a strengthening of their buying power, which will reflect and
their ability to provide commodities.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Regular treat quagmire, stalling, farming. Is this all about paperwork?
Just doing the obvious?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Oh look, I just had a recent experience. I'm not
mentioning the council who involved, but trying to get a
coded compliance for a particular part of a building that
was done some years ago and hadn't for some reason
been signed off and the bureaucracy to get simply somebody
to inspect it got that took five minutes. But the
(03:02):
ability to get that the documentation signed off through a
third party process that the councils now use has just
gone on for six weeks and now being told that
perhap up to twenty days to complete this. And I
mean all it is is just saying yes, the building
is for purpose. And this is a reflection of what
(03:26):
we're seeing time time again. You know, consent process is
taken too long, and that on the basis of that,
you know, people just getting frustrated paying a lot of
money to get somewhere and not actually achieving it. Consents
taking longer than n actual build, which just seems to
me to be stupid.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Perhaps is the case of these councils just having to
cover their butts and going through process.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, look at some of it will have dragged on
from the lucky building days. But the reality is the
streamlining of that ability to have uniform standard conditions cross
the country hasn't been hasn't succeeded. I think that's part
of the IRI may reform may may give us that,
but the reality again, we're probably looking out till twenty
(04:11):
eight twenty nine before any of that will be implemented.
It's a bit like this whole local government reform. It
just seems to me to be starting to get into
a position where we're seen. But some pieces being considered
around the edges that I thought of the latest one
to need in them. Why tech you might look at
joining and then Tiger being the central targer on q
elit see you all being one. The divity you're going
(04:34):
to have in some of these areas pre sounds a
good example. The debt per household is twenty eight thousand.
Where you look at Central Tiger District Council or South
and District Council, the debt per household is two thousand
and so the capacity you get some of these councilors
to join together is going to be really hard. And
(04:55):
I just see the same as South and it just
doesn't seem to be a clear pattern as to what's
going to be done. Gore looking at going to Cluveland,
goodness sake, you know, I just don't think that's going
to solve anything.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Three months it doesn't seem like this is long enough
to get anything done in any way, shape or form,
especially given bureaucracy.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
There are some councils collectively around New Zealand that have
probably progressed this Taranaki Waketto that would probably meet the
three months deadline. Southland should. I mean, it just thinks
pretty simple. But all I've got to do is indicate
what process and what sort of design of the future
(05:37):
council might look like within the ninety days. To be honest,
I thought the ninety days I should have made it sixty.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
What positives from your perspective, I suppose, Jef, do you
see you from algamations? I mean we've all heard the
figure the local elections six months ago, over two hundred
positions worth filled councilors and mayors unelected, and that's what
really got people grumpy.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah. Look, I think what people want or two things.
One is a rate base that fairly reflects the cost
and therefore get out of doing the stuff that you
don't really need to do. It's nice to have sort
of mentality that's crept into councils over the last decade
or so. And the second is that they just want
(06:23):
to simplified system, that is that when you want to
get something done, it gets done and not tied up
in the bureaucracy that we see today.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Now, you talked about those debt levels Queenstown being twenty
five k whatever it was for a household as opposed
to tea or twenty eight thousand. Sorry I was ten corrected,
But don't historical debt levels stay retained within that current
region though within that council jurisdiction.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yes they do, and if you look at the reformers
back in nineteen eighty nine, that's correct what happened. But
it eventually gets amalgamated. You know, you do the rating
on the basis there for a period of time, but
it all gets a related into the problem you've got
this time around, the debt level differences between councils is
much greater. I mean, Queenstown is still trying to seek
(07:10):
together the ceiling lifted. I'm going to say it's about
one hundred and eighty percent of rates. Now they wanting
to shift it to two hundred and thirty percent of rates.
So the problem you get to is that the debtly
will you'd combined the councils, but the ability to move
in one area geographically to get things done is still
hamstrung by the debt that's in the household.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, it'll be interesting given Queenstown still got a lot
going on there regarding monetary ways. Just finally as well
in New Zealand. First, Winston Peters indicating that New Zealand
first want to by be in z Bank from its
Australian pearance and merge it with Kiwibank, creating the National
Bank of New Zealand. Do you think this is a
good thing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, I can understand ideologically from New Zealand first. I
mean this wouldn't be a position unusual from what they've
had before in terms of someone that's nationalization of infrastructure
or key key assets in New Zealand. I think the
differently you have with this is that it starts in
to indicate to international investors that will money invested in
(08:17):
New Zealand may be at risk at some point in
time when a government decides that it wants to nationalize something.
So for that reason, I think there is some difficulty
in sort of pursuing this type of policy. The other
part of that is what is it actually going to achieve?
Because it's still going to operate commercially, it's not going
to provide necessarily a benchmark that would lower the other
(08:42):
three major Australian banks, and therefore I'm not sure what
the final outcome would be.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, Kewi Bank, I think it was created around two
thousand and one, so perhaps merging something I don't know.
Winston's always going to do the patriotism card though too.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, look, there's a good argument in terms of Kiwi
Bank really capaalize it to a point where it does
it does become effective in terms of it's challenging the
other four, but I don't I don't see that happening.
That requires, you know, substantial capital. While they talk about
five hundred million or something at the moment, the reality
is Kiwi Bank would need to be up around ten
(09:19):
or fifteen percent of the market share before it would
start having an influence. Combining the two doesn't necessarily say
that it's going to change because they're still going to
operate commercially and the commercial market will be what the
four are doing.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Chief Grant enjoy the sunshine this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Thanks any kitchen bag.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Jeff Grant underrating of the thoughts they especially around New
Zealand first proposing to buy Being Z and merging it
with Kiwibanks. So it is election year after all. Dean
Rabbage is up next. Let's talk a bit of war
and positivity gi anyone
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