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Simon Bridges: Auckland Business Chamber CEO on Wayne Brown's manifesto for Auckland · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed Be
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: follow this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Wayne Brown and Auckland has refreshed his magnificent Manifesto for Auckland.
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  Speaker 2: He says work with the government has been mostly good,
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  Speaker 2: but he wants the bed tax. He's like a broken
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  Speaker 2: record with the bed tax and the visa waivers for
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  Speaker 2: China for Brazil. He reckons these can help turbocharge growth
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  Speaker 2: Auckland and in turn save the entire country. Simon Bridges,
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  Speaker 2: the Auckland Business Chamber of CEO with me this morning, Simon,
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  Speaker 2: Good morning.
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  Speaker 3: A morning Ryan. Yes, what a magnificent manifesto. Indeed, I
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  Speaker 3: just wanted to say that, actually because I like the
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: I like the way I rolled off the tongue.
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  Speaker 2: We'll get you that into a second. But this China US,
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  Speaker 2: well it's not a deal, but at least it's a pause.
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  Speaker 2: Has got to be a good thing for us, right,
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, good.
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  Speaker 3: News indeed, halujah. I mean, well, as you say, I'm
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  Speaker 3: none of us are naive, but I think those two,
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  Speaker 3: you know, country is really that's the biggest superpowers you'd
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  Speaker 3: argue into you as well in the world we need
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  Speaker 3: things to be sort of predictable, certain and you know,
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  Speaker 3: at a level as much as it can be harmonious
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  Speaker 3: for the world of global economy. And so yeah, good news.
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  Speaker 3: We'll see how it all goes. But good news so far.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Wayne Brown and the he wants the visas, the
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  Speaker 2: visa waivers, and you've spoken about this before for China
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  Speaker 2: and for Brazil. And I'm assuming the reason that the
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  Speaker 2: government's not moving on the stuff is because they're worried
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  Speaker 2: about overstayers.
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  Speaker 3: Well, if they are, it's seems a strange concern to me.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I think that Wayne Brown is right. Again,
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  Speaker 3: my point be this, I don't see a single public
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  Speaker 3: policy reason not to do this. Now, you could argue
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  Speaker 3: with some other Southeast Asian countries overstaying I think probably
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  Speaker 3: would be in other countries a really significant issue. That
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  Speaker 3: they're frankly poorer, less developed countries. It's not the China today.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you go to those cities and that they
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  Speaker 3: are more advanced, more developed than news Yland, and you
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  Speaker 3: know what we what we would see is I think
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  Speaker 3: a real sugar hit the economy if you had some
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  Speaker 3: kind of reciprocal visa, right that is you know, no
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  Speaker 3: visa for a period of time. If the government was
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  Speaker 3: really worried about that is you're mentioning there are things
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  Speaker 3: they could do, right. What they could actually do is say,
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  Speaker 3: you know what, it's only going to be for those
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  Speaker 3: who fail at the front of the plane. That would
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  Speaker 3: still be a sugar hit. And right now, I think
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  Speaker 3: I've said before on they'd be beggars, can't be choosers.
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  Speaker 3: So I cannot see a reason not to do it.
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  Speaker 3: I'm totally with Wayne Brown on this, and I just
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  Speaker 3: say that, you know, you and some of your colleagues
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  Speaker 3: when you're there saying how amazing Erica Stanford is, she
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  Speaker 3: hasn't moved on this and she should.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, no, fair enough too. I havenen to agree with you.
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  Speaker 2: What about the bed tax, because he's harping on about this,
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  Speaker 2: but it's not going to happen because I well, it
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  Speaker 2: probably needs a rebrand. They should take the word tax
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  Speaker 2: out of it for a secon exactly.
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  Speaker 3: You know, that's about I think that's the issue. Look,
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  Speaker 3: I'm not saying this is sort of weazels, right, I'm
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  Speaker 3: agnost it. Whether it's extra are quote bad text, right,
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  Speaker 3: But I think the issue that Wayne's talking about is
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  Speaker 3: right for Auckland, and therefore, you know, I think for
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand the government does need to do something. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: got me give you my sort of maybe slightly self
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  Speaker 3: serving perspective, but I was Minister of Economic Development in
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  Speaker 3: the last days of the keep slash English government and
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  Speaker 3: we had a steady pipeline of major events for the
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  Speaker 3: likes of Auckland. There's just no pipeline again. And that's
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  Speaker 3: in the end. That's a fun thing.
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  Speaker 2: We need something again, but politically get it across the line.
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  Speaker 2: Is there any way you can just charge foreigners the
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  Speaker 2: bad tax?
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  Speaker 3: You know like that.
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  Speaker 2: That's the problem for the central government, isn't it. They
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  Speaker 2: don't want to introduce another tax that's going to hurt
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  Speaker 2: key with you. So we're coming from christ it's for
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  Speaker 2: a concert at Eden Park.
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  Speaker 3: My simple point would be, look, okay, so you don't
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  Speaker 3: like my sensors and I'm not close to the internal
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: politics within the coalition on this. My sense is your
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  Speaker 3: your first point was one which is in the end,
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  Speaker 3: I think they said no new tea. This is says text,
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  Speaker 3: and so that's the sort of issue. Look, the question
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  Speaker 3: is not text. It's funding all right if they want
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  Speaker 3: to do it through some other mechanism, but in the end,
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  Speaker 3: both central and local government are failing Auckland when it
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  Speaker 3: comes to major events and activations that you need for tourists,
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  Speaker 3: that you need for people coming in, but you also
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  Speaker 3: just need if you want a dynamic, exciting city that
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  Speaker 3: our kids want to stay in and work in, right
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  Speaker 3: rather than buggering off to Sydney in London.
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  Speaker 2: If you want excitement in Auckland, you just read Wayne
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  Speaker 2: Brown's manifesto. Simon, thank you for that. Simon Bridges, Auckland
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  Speaker 2: Chamber of CEO with us this morning
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