Mood of the Boardroom: Getting down to business (NZ Herald)

Mood of the Boardroom: Getting down to business (NZ Herald)

The politicians battling it out to be New Zealand’s next finance minister got their practice runs in early at this month’s BusinessNZ election conference.

There have been plenty of head-to-head debates since – and more to come – including at today’s Mood of the Boardroom breakfast.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson threw down the opening salvo, emphasising how Labour had supported New Zealanders and New Zealand business during challenging times while fostering economic growth. “We now need to invest in our future — our infrastructure, our people, our external relationships and trade deals.”

He acknowledged that the Government had borrowed significantly to get New Zealand through Covid, but noted that “virtually all political parties were saying that’s what we needed to do”.

“There are a couple of professors of hindsight economics in Parliament, who keep coming back time and time again saying how much of our spend we shouldn’t have spent.”

National’s Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis argued it is time for a government that champions growth, job creation, entrepreneurship, innovation and allows individuals to retain more of what they earn.

“I am carrying on in the proud tradition of a party that keeps the books in order, that spends with discipline, and that understands that every dollar of tax paid by New Zealanders should be treated with respect,” she said.

When Act leader David Seymour took to the microphone, he wasted no time in challenging the status quo, dismissing the prior speakers’ narratives.

He asserted that New Zealand’s deep-seated issues have been building over decades and require substantive change, not just “show up next week, business as usual but wear a blue tie this time”.

The Green Party’s Finance Spokesperson, Julie Anne Genter, kept the climate front and centre. She emphasised that the Greens have been “consistently calling for climate change for 20 years, and all the policies we have implemented in government have been sensible,” rattling through the home insulation programme, Zero Carbon Act and clean car discount.

Seymour playfully pointed out that Act has quite a number of supporters. “I have to say we are mostly going for the living voters, but not exclusively.”

He included Kate Sheppard, the founder of the women’s suffrage movement, on his list of historic figures that would have been Act voters, alongside Nelson Mandela and chiefs that were signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi:

“I have read some of Kate Sheppard’s quotes and she believed in universal human rights. She opposed racial discrimination; I suspect that she would be voting for us today.”

He left the audience in stitches and Genter with her head in her hands.

Peters’ scathing review of the status quo

The two contenders for Prime Minister stuck to their predictable stump speeches.

National leader Christopher Luxon said that New Zealand is a fantastic country with “endless potential” but one that is heading in the wrong direction.

“If we are really honest with ourselves, we are not realising the potential we have, we’re not solving the problems we’ve got, and we certainly are not maximising the opportunities in front of us.

“What we need now is a turnaround. And I’ve done a lot of turnaround jobs in my life. The reality is you have to do two things: face the brutal reality whether you like it or not, and then actually have hope — not just in some kumbaya sense — but hope because you have a plan that you can actually get yourself into a different place, and I think that is what we need in New Zealand.”

He itemised five things he would focus on to turn New Zealand around — but notably omitted any mention of the word “climate”.

When it was Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ turn, he maintained that New Zealand’s debt was still low relative to other nations, and that Cyclone Gabrielle had had a significant role in slowing down economic recovery.

Hipkins reiterated the significance of persisting with Labour’s social agenda.

“An economy dragged down by poverty and exposed to the ravages of extreme weather is bad for business,” he said.

“Our economic fundamentals are in good shape.”

But of all the leader addresses, it was New Zealand First’s Winston Peters who sparked the most discussion afterwards.

The short time that he spent on business was focused on the uncertain global outlook, particularly with China, and how it could impact New Zealand.

“The Chinese economy is in deep trouble, and we face circumstances almost identical or worse than 1997, when, as you know, the Thai baht fell out of bed and so did the rest of the currencies around Asia.

“As Treasurer at the time we had a real big problem trying to keep our economy going with markets dropping off everywhere. So, it pays to have something like experience — and certainly in economies like this.”

He underscored the need to incentivise wealth creation. “Our way back is to export, export, export. And to add value to everything we possibly can before we export, not after.”

The majority of Peters’ speech was dedicated to outlining his stance on a wide array of New Zealand First’s key issues and critiquing other political parties.

He took jabs at former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley and her troubles with Mainzeal, Hipkins and his free dental policy and commitment to deliver tunnels under the Waitemata Harbour, National and its delays and cost blowouts building roading infrastructure and the foreign buyer tax. “These promises being made on this campaign just will not happen. They’re not going to happen because they haven’t got the money,” Peters claimed.

He also underlined his opposition to co-governance, the increased use of Maori language, and the substitution of “Aotearoa” for “New Zealand”.

“We have a whole lot of things being changed, like our health system, our education system and we’ve got a new name — Waka Kotahi — who is not concerned about potholes but more concerned about the signs that you want to read if you’re trying to get past the pothole.”

Green Party co-leader James Shaw was on stage immediately following Peters.

“Tena koutou katoa. People of Aotearoa,” he said, receiving a robust round of applause from the business audience. “I was struggling to think of a title for my speech, and I’ve decided to go with: ‘And now for something completely different’.”