Latest / Best of Business / Barbara Edmonds: Labour finance spokesperson criticises the Government's handling of Donald Trump's tariffs

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Barbara Edmonds: Labour finance spokesperson criticises the Government's handling of Donald Trump's tariffs · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: Barbara Edmunds, Barb, who we've been looking for at Barb,
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  Speaker 2: where have you been all of our lives? So we've
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  Speaker 2: been looking for Barbara Edmunds from Labor this afternoon because
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  Speaker 2: we were meant to have it for an interview. And
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  Speaker 2: then at five point thirty one a fire alarm goes
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  Speaker 2: off at Parliament. Okay, five point thirty seven we get
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  Speaker 2: a call from Labour saying interviews is canceled. You know,
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  Speaker 2: she's not meant to be on until now, which is
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  Speaker 2: after second interview is canceled fire alarm. Okay, that seems odd.
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  Speaker 2: Can you not take a phone call and you know
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  Speaker 2: fire alarm was fifteen minutes ago? Anyway, whatever. Five forty
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  Speaker 2: five pm we mentioned this on a five point fifty
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  Speaker 2: four PM we mentioned it again, say definitely no, Barbara Edmunds.
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  Speaker 2: We question the reason for this. Five fifty seven pm
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  Speaker 2: another call from Labor. Barbara's back on. She's here now, Barbara,
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  Speaker 2: good evening, Hi.
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  Speaker 3: Ryan, how's it going.
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  Speaker 2: You're good?
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  Speaker 3: Thanks here man, I'm here for what happened I think
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  Speaker 3: it was just because obviously left my phone. You know,
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  Speaker 3: at a fig larm you just got to get outside.
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  Speaker 3: So we just wanted to make sure that it was weird.
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  Speaker 3: Just we didn't know how long we were going to
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  Speaker 3: be outside. I've been here for ten years in Parliament,
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  Speaker 3: the Precinct, Drount, the Prince Sects. The first time I've
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  Speaker 3: ever had a fire drill during a house sitting time.
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  Speaker 3: So but I'm here, man, that's what matters.
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm glad you're here. Do you know what? Always
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  Speaker 2: take your phone with you because if you I've always thought,
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  Speaker 2: you know, what is it next to you or in
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  Speaker 2: your desk? You always take your phone because if your
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  Speaker 2: family wants to get hold of you, then they need
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  Speaker 2: to get hold of you.
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  Speaker 3: You know it's true, that's true. But you know I
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  Speaker 3: was in the meeting, so my bad. But I'm here.
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  Speaker 2: I'm no good to have you here. Now, this press
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  Speaker 2: release you put out today about Nikola Willis attacking Nikola Willis,
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  Speaker 2: you have seid Nichola Willis continues to sit on her
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  Speaker 2: hands amid globe a global economic crisis, which, first of all,
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  Speaker 2: would we call this a global economic crisis? Yet?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think a lot of commentations are saying that
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  Speaker 3: it is a global crisis with the retaliation tariffs that
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  Speaker 3: might happen globally. For us, it's really if this is
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  Speaker 3: going to happen offshore, what do you do as a government.
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  Speaker 3: And we believe kind of her to saying we've got this,
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  Speaker 3: we will hold our position. We don't think that that's enough.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So what exactly do you want her to do?
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  Speaker 3: Well? A lot of going for growth initiatives are really
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  Speaker 3: based on foreign interventions, for example, if foreign direct investments
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  Speaker 3: also tourism or so exports sector. We just want to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that there's a balance about looking inwards into
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand and taking a proper look at Actually, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: if a third of our plan is not going to
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  Speaker 3: be working to plan because there's going to be some
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  Speaker 3: uncertainty in the global environment, what do we need to
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  Speaker 3: do to look at here in New Zealand to ensure
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  Speaker 3: that we are supporting both internally and the tectism internally
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  Speaker 3: and maybe using it as an opportunity actually.
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  Speaker 2: To do what exactly I mean this is all sounding
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  Speaker 2: quite expensive, Barbara. The benefit obviously of foreign investment in
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  Speaker 2: tourism is it someone else pays for it.
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  Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, and we still you know, you still welcome that.
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  Speaker 3: But you've also got to have a plan for what
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  Speaker 3: happens internally. For example, if our exporters aren't able to
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  Speaker 3: export the same amount that they're going to be able
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  Speaker 3: to do, or there's going to be imposted in them
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  Speaker 3: or the far with the foreign exchange right with.
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  Speaker 2: The Browns, Barbara, we don't know that yet, do we.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it has been two hours since the tariffs
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  Speaker 2: came into effect. We don't yet. And you have used
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  Speaker 2: the words global economic crisis, but in the real world
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  Speaker 2: it hasn't actually happened yet. So where would you specifically
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  Speaker 2: recommend that she goes and piles money today?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I'm pretty sure that our share markets and the
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  Speaker 3: share markets off shore would say that something has happened,
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  Speaker 3: given the trillion dollars was taken off, you know, for example,
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  Speaker 3: the US markets, we're a lot of our ken we
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  Speaker 3: say for our Superorannuation fund where we have in best
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  Speaker 3: makes them.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, the stock market has felt the shock, no doubt.
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  Speaker 2: But what exactly do you want her to do in
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  Speaker 2: the real economy right now? Where do you want her
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  Speaker 2: to spend this money?
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  Speaker 3: Definitely on infrastructure. We've been saying that for the last
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  Speaker 3: year the government had paused, canceled a lot of infrastructure
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  Speaker 3: projects have had their summit recently. This is the time
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  Speaker 3: for them to really clearly signal and to get those
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  Speaker 3: projects underway, because remember we've lost thirteen thousand construction sector
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  Speaker 3: jobs in the last year. Those are the people that
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  Speaker 3: we basically have trained up here in New Zealand using
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  Speaker 3: apprenticeship booths other initiatives, that are now going offshore, particularly
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  Speaker 3: to Australia, to find work.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but they that they're talking all the time about
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  Speaker 2: infrastructure investments and they've had their summit. I mean they're
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  Speaker 2: asking for it for others to join them to pay
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  Speaker 2: for some of it. But they're also stumping up for
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  Speaker 2: motorways and the like.
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  Speaker 3: And it's just right. It's talk, but you kind of
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  Speaker 3: needed the action last year instead of putting the handbrake
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  Speaker 3: on the.
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  Speaker 2: Operating allowance that she's set two and a half billion.
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  Speaker 2: Would you go with that or would you want it
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  Speaker 2: to be higher? Do you think she should she should
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  Speaker 2: go for a bit of a boost.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we're going to see what's going to happen during
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  Speaker 3: the budget. I mean the Treasury said last budget that
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  Speaker 3: you need a minimum of two point five billion to
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  Speaker 3: keep up with population growth and inflation. But they chose
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  Speaker 3: the two point four and you've seen that they're really
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  Speaker 3: pre permitted a lot of that from last year's budget.
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  Speaker 3: So you'd be having a good look at your operating
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  Speaker 3: allowance and be able to say okay. She says she
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  Speaker 3: feels comfortable with that. My question is, though, do que
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  Speaker 3: feel comfortable with that? Are they getting the access to
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  Speaker 3: healthcare that they need? Are they able to basically be.
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  Speaker 2: Able to feel comfortable? Would you? Would you go bigger?
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  Speaker 3: I would need to look at books that she's getting
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  Speaker 3: and she's getting the advice. We aren't. We're having to
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  Speaker 3: get the information from from commentary and from you know,
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  Speaker 3: we questioned the minister in the House and this yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: They can't tell you we weren't able to get any
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  Speaker 3: information from her.
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  Speaker 2: Feel like I tell you before it happened, before they
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  Speaker 2: do their pre budget release. But what about the forty
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  Speaker 2: six percent of GDP that we're going to hit in
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  Speaker 2: twenty six twenty seven. What is an acceptable for you
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  Speaker 2: in terms of call net debt? What is an acceptable level?
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  Speaker 3: What is quite interesting the min is at that investment
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  Speaker 3: so much. Nikole Willis she said we have low levels
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  Speaker 3: of debt. So that's the first time I'd heard her
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  Speaker 3: say that publicly because all of the election campaign she's
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  Speaker 3: been talking about high levels of debt. So obviously we
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  Speaker 3: don't want to be over in debt because there is
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  Speaker 3: that structural deficit. But you need to look at the
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  Speaker 3: long term view as well and where that debt is
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  Speaker 3: being spent. And as I've said before, infrastructure, if you're
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  Speaker 3: going to have to borrow, you borrow it for infrastructure.
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  Speaker 3: So again we're open to that foreign We are open
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  Speaker 3: to that foreign investment for the right assets.
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  Speaker 2: But what's the acceptable number for you? How high would
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  Speaker 2: you take it? Are you comfortable taking out.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not going to announce the labor hearty for school
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  Speaker 3: plan today, but again we're going to be looking at
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  Speaker 3: the numbers that come out of the budget. Economic for
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  Speaker 3: Scoal updates is another monetary Potossey statement by the Reserve
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  Speaker 3: Bank and may those numbers are going to be really
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  Speaker 3: key for us as to where we land for ourter
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  Speaker 3: school plan.
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  Speaker 2: Barbara, appreciate your time, Nice to have you on the phone. Finally,
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  Speaker 2: Barbara Edmonds Labour's finance spokesperson.
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