Latest / Best of Business / Nicola Willis: National Finance Spokesperson on the party's plan for first 100 days of re-election

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Nicola Willis: National Finance Spokesperson on the party's plan for first 100 days of re-election · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB. Follow this
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  Speaker 1: and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio. National
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  Speaker 1: has released its 100-day plan setting out what it intends
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  Speaker 1: to get underway if re-elected. So it includes, well, it's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of things actually, quite a long list, includes
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  Speaker 1: changes to KiwiSaver, a cap on council rates, increases of
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  Speaker 1: crackdown on overseas student loan defaulters. But how much of
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  Speaker 1: it is actually new? And will another three years be
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  Speaker 1: enough to turn the economy around? And National Party Deputy
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  Speaker 1: Leader Nicola Willis joins me now. Good afternoon.
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  Speaker 2: Good afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, just to start with, have National MPs been told
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  Speaker 1: to check their Google photos to see which gang members
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  Speaker 1: they've been hanging out with?
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  Speaker 2: No, we haven't received an instruction like that. We know
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  Speaker 2: that our MPs don't hang out with gang members.
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  Speaker 1: OK, I was just wondering if everyone might just check
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  Speaker 1: the details there.
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  Speaker 2: But anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing.
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  Speaker 2: I find gang members scary.
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  Speaker 1: Why?
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  Speaker 2: Because I know what they do, which is that they
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  Speaker 2: deal drugs to kids. They rape women. They murder people.
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  Speaker 2: They beat people up. I don't like hanging out with
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  Speaker 2: them for that reason. It's pretty simple, and that's why
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  Speaker 2: we've gone after them in our first term of government.
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  Speaker 2: That's why we've banned their patches. That's why we've sent
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  Speaker 2: a lot of them to prison.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you've released your 100-day plan. Is there anything new
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  Speaker 1: in it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it sets out very clearly the specific actions that
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  Speaker 2: we take to ensure that The things that we're campaigning
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  Speaker 2: on take action quickly. So, number one, introducing legislation to
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  Speaker 2: ensure that our KiwiSaver policy comes to life. Number two,
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  Speaker 2: something you wouldn't have heard about before, taking a trade
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  Speaker 2: mission to India so that we can promote the uptake
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  Speaker 2: of the Indian Free Trade Agreement. Issuing a budget statement
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  Speaker 2: to make sure those rules around reducing debt, getting the
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  Speaker 2: books back in the red, is clearly set out for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: Locking in the no new taxes commitment. making sure that
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  Speaker 2: that rates cap legislation that is already in Parliament actually
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  Speaker 2: gets passed, introducing legislation to extend paid parental leave, passing
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  Speaker 2: legislation to give the Commerce Commission the power it needs
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  Speaker 2: to look over the supermarkets and see whether a demerger
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  Speaker 2: proposal should progress. So these are all actions we've campaigned on.
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  Speaker 2: Some people won't have heard of all of them because
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  Speaker 2: the campaign's been pretty noisy, but this sets out what
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  Speaker 2: are the specific actions you're going to take right away.
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  Speaker 1: To make those things It is a lot to get done.
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  Speaker 1: How much of it depends on would-be coalition partners?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I'm not going to negotiate coalition agreements
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  Speaker 2: here on the radio today. But what we did last
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  Speaker 2: time was that we were really clear on the campaign trail.
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  Speaker 2: Here are the big actions that are core to national.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what we need to do to progress them in
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  Speaker 2: the first 100 days. And we found that created a
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  Speaker 2: really good basis for coordinated action. in those first three months.
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  Speaker 2: So no doubt other political parties will have their priorities
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  Speaker 2: that they've campaigned on. That's a discussion for the future.
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  Speaker 2: But if you want these actions, party vote National.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot for people. I mean, the whole election campaign,
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  Speaker 1: there's so much information out there for voters. When you
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  Speaker 1: look at this plan, what would you expect or like
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  Speaker 1: people to take away from it as just a couple
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  Speaker 1: of highlights?
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  Speaker 2: I think ultimately what people expect from it strengthening the economy.
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  Speaker 2: The thing that I have heard really loud and clear
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  Speaker 2: from people is that they want to see economic progress
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  Speaker 2: continuing and they want to see frontline services continuing. So
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  Speaker 2: a couple of things that I think are pretty exciting
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  Speaker 2: for the future is making sure that every child born
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  Speaker 2: in this country has $ 1, 500 in their KiwiSaver account from
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  Speaker 2: day dot, extending paid parental leave to be a bit
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  Speaker 2: longer and And then ensuring that Pharmac has a bigger
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  Speaker 2: budget to buy more medicines for sick New Zealanders by
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  Speaker 2: reducing the aid budget. So there's a lot that we've
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  Speaker 2: campaigned on, but ultimately it's about strengthening the economy, continuing
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  Speaker 2: to make progress on law and order, lifting education standards
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  Speaker 2: and making sure that we're delivering. That's what our track
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  Speaker 2: record is. There's so much more progress to make. We
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  Speaker 2: need three more years to make sure our plan comes
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  Speaker 2: to life.
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  Speaker 1: If the three years you've had is too short to
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  Speaker 1: turn the economy around, will six be enough?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I think it will be. And what I base
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  Speaker 2: that on is the fact that the IMF and economists
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  Speaker 2: are now forecasting that our economy is set to be
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  Speaker 2: growing faster next year than Australia, the UK, the US,
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  Speaker 2: many countries we like to compare ourselves with. But it
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  Speaker 2: was really interesting. Last week, we had moved the boardroom
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  Speaker 2: where some of the big chief executives of the big
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  Speaker 2: businesses in New Zealand talk about the future. And what
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  Speaker 2: they said was that in many cases, the biggest risk
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  Speaker 2: to the economy right now is actually a change of government.
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  Speaker 2: And that really worries me that all of the hard
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  Speaker 2: work that New Zealanders have done collectively to get things
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  Speaker 2: back on track, to get better inflation in a more
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  Speaker 2: stable position, to get government spending in a better position,
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  Speaker 2: to back business growth, that that could all be laid
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  Speaker 2: to waste. if this national-led government doesn't get three more
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  Speaker 2: years to lock in the progress.
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  Speaker 1: What sort of things are you worried might spoil the
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  Speaker 1: party on that front? Because obviously we see events overseas
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  Speaker 1: having a huge influence on the cost of getting goods
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  Speaker 1: around and fuel and the flow-on effects. Is it just
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  Speaker 1: more of that global instability?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I'm really concerned by the fact that events
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  Speaker 2: in the Middle East mean that the international price of
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  Speaker 2: oil is very high. New Zealanders are experiencing that right now.
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  Speaker 2: And it is tough when petrol is as expensive as
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  Speaker 2: it currently is and when diesel is as expensive as
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  Speaker 2: it currently is. And so we have factored that into
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  Speaker 2: our thinking about our economic plan. That's why, for example,
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  Speaker 2: we've fully funded cancellation of an increase to the petrol
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  Speaker 2: tax next year because we don't think it's the right
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  Speaker 2: thing in these economic conditions. With a look around the world,
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  Speaker 2: I am seeing quite a lot of instability considering the
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  Speaker 2: what's happening in global bond markets with borrowing, all of
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  Speaker 2: that sort of thing. And that's why I think it's
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  Speaker 2: even more important than ever that New Zealand has our
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  Speaker 2: own house in order. This is not the time to
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  Speaker 2: be going on a big spending, big taxing spree. You know,
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  Speaker 2: anything could happen in the world. I want us to
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  Speaker 2: be on strong ground here at home and not to
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  Speaker 2: be launching new experiments like Chloe Swarbrick and the Labour
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  Speaker 2: Party seem keen to do.
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  Speaker 1: There are, I mean, election promises and a lot of
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  Speaker 1: sugar hits floating around. So how much... And how hard
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  Speaker 1: a job is it to convince the average voter how
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  Speaker 1: important it is to get back into surplus at a
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  Speaker 1: certain time?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I've been really heartened on the campaign trail, actually,
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  Speaker 2: by how many New Zealanders have asked me questions about
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  Speaker 2: the country's debt and about the state of the government books.
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  Speaker 2: I think New Zealanders are smarter than some politicians give
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  Speaker 2: them credit for. They know there's no free lunch. They
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  Speaker 2: know there's no field of magic money trees. And they
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  Speaker 2: want to understand that the commitments people have made are
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  Speaker 2: credible because many people have been through it already. When
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  Speaker 2: governments overspend, they always end up paying for it. New
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  Speaker 2: Zealanders end up paying for it, whether it's in the
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  Speaker 2: form of higher inflation sending prices spiralling or whether it's
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  Speaker 2: in the form of the new taxes that are introduced
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  Speaker 2: to make up for that extra spending. And so Kiwis
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  Speaker 2: have been pretty savvy with me. I think they have
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  Speaker 2: looked at some of the big outlandish spending promises being
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  Speaker 2: thrown around and gone, well, that's not going to happen.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's not affordable. and so we've tried to
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  Speaker 2: be very sensible what is actually achievable and deliverable that
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  Speaker 2: we can look New Zealanders in the eye and say
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  Speaker 2: we can do this without adding to the country's debt
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  Speaker 2: without leaving your kids with a massive debt burden and
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  Speaker 2: with no new taxes.
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  Speaker 1: So the no new taxes but more spending lower debt
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  Speaker 1: in a surplus how do we how do we square
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  Speaker 1: that all up how does that all make.
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  Speaker 2: Sense It's all about growing the economy because what you
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  Speaker 2: ultimately get growth from, which is when an employer or
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  Speaker 2: a business or a firm says, actually, I'm feeling more
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  Speaker 2: confident about the future. I'm going to make a new investment.
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to hire some more staff. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: expand to a new market. I'm going to start sending
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  Speaker 2: things to India. I'm going to start doing a new product.
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  Speaker 2: And what gives us confidence that that will be happening
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  Speaker 2: over the next few years All of the economists looking
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  Speaker 2: at the conditions saying, actually, relative to many countries around
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  Speaker 2: the world, New Zealand is going to be doing okay.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to have more abundant energy. We're a secure,
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  Speaker 2: safe country. The government has put in place sensible policy settings.
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  Speaker 2: And employers are reflecting that. Manufacturing is now an expansion.
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  Speaker 2: The services sector is an expansion. Businesses are telling us
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  Speaker 2: they're more optimistic about the future than they were even
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  Speaker 2: a year ago. And so that's where jobs and growth
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  Speaker 2: comes from. And When the economy's growing, it means that
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  Speaker 2: there is more tax being paid, which means there's more
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  Speaker 2: available to government to invest in health, to invest in
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  Speaker 2: education and the police, the things that we all really
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  Speaker 2: care about.
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  Speaker 1: The talk around breaking up foodstuffs, and look, the other
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  Speaker 1: parties have got policies about having a crack at the supermarkets.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, my response, but a lot of people I've
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  Speaker 1: spoken to and talked back just think it's going to
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  Speaker 1: make very little difference. I mean, is it going to
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  Speaker 1: be a lot of dancing around, a lot of complex
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  Speaker 1: sort of reshuffling and restructuring everything for about a dollar
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  Speaker 1: a week for each house. What do you think?
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  Speaker 2: Well, there seems to me to be an emerging consensus,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's international economists looking at the New Zealand grocery sector,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's political parties, whether it's people here at home
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  Speaker 2: can see that we're a total anomaly internationally, that to
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  Speaker 2: have such a duopoly and to have so little competition
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  Speaker 2: in our sector, and that does have negative effects in
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  Speaker 2: terms of prices, innovation, productivity. So the question we've asked
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  Speaker 2: ourselves in government is how do we improve that competition?
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  Speaker 2: And the proposal that we... had a lot of work
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  Speaker 2: done on was, well, if you were to split the
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  Speaker 2: supermarkets into two separate banners, so you've already got Pack
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  Speaker 2: and Save and New World, but if you were to
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  Speaker 2: ask them to more formally compete with each other, would
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  Speaker 2: that drive a better deal for the consumer? The initial
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  Speaker 2: economic analysis said, yes, yes, it would considerably better deal
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  Speaker 2: for the prices drop. But I think we do need
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  Speaker 2: to be careful with a proposal like that. We need
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  Speaker 2: to check it. We need to make sure we've got
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  Speaker 2: the data right. And that's why we're saying in our
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  Speaker 2: first 100 days, we'll give the Commerce Commission, the independent watchdog,
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  Speaker 2: the power to go off, look at those numbers, analyse
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  Speaker 2: that case and recommend whether it should proceed. It's something
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  Speaker 2: where change is needed, but we need to proceed with caution.
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  Speaker 1: Just on the rates cap, how many councils are going
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  Speaker 1: to really be stuffed because they are so underinvested in infrastructure?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think that the biggest infrastructure need for many
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  Speaker 2: communities is water infrastructure, pipes and sewerage. And of course,
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  Speaker 2: in most cases, that's now been separated out into separate entities.
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  Speaker 2: So when you look at actually what are the rates
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  Speaker 2: being spent on, I don't accept that there is such
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  Speaker 2: an outstanding need for massive infrastructure that councils aren't capable
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  Speaker 2: of having lower rate prices. I think You know, that
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  Speaker 2: mindset is just signing New Zealanders up to ever-spiralling rates.
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  Speaker 2: And look, people can't afford to keep having double-digit rate rises.
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  Speaker 2: It's just not realistic. And actually, unfortunately, around the country,
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  Speaker 2: too many councils are still wasting money on nice-to-haves, and
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  Speaker 2: we want them to tighten their belts so that ratepayers
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  Speaker 2: aren't under so much pressure.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, just a couple more things. The $ 1, 500 KiwiSaver for newborns,
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  Speaker 1: is that something that goes to everyone or is it
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  Speaker 1: wealthy families excluded or what?
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  Speaker 2: Every child of New Zealand citizens. So if you're a
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  Speaker 2: New Zealand citizen and you have a child, then your
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  Speaker 2: child will get that $ 1, 500 baby boost at birth. And
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  Speaker 2: that's because what we want, because we're pairing that with
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  Speaker 2: financial literacy in the school curriculum, What we want is
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  Speaker 2: that every child growing up in New Zealand understands that
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  Speaker 2: they have a stake in this economy. They have some wealth,
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  Speaker 2: they have an asset, they have some capital in the
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  Speaker 2: form of their KiwiSaver account. We want them to be
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  Speaker 2: able to watch it and track it over time, understand
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  Speaker 2: what interest is, understand... what a fund is, understand what
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  Speaker 2: compound interest is and watch that growth. We think that's
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  Speaker 2: quite powerful if every Kiwi kid has that because it
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  Speaker 2: levels the playing field a bit but everyone has some savings.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone has an estate available to buy first time or
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  Speaker 2: at retirement.
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  Speaker 1: Anything you look back on in the last three years
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  Speaker 1: and go, oh, we got that one wrong? Is there
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  Speaker 1: anything you look back and you're thinking we should have
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  Speaker 1: done something differently?
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  Speaker 2: When I look back over the past three years, I
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  Speaker 2: think We just didn't anticipate the sideways swipes that came
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  Speaker 2: from us in the form of that global tariff war,
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  Speaker 2: the oil shock, how challenging the economic recovery has been.
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  Speaker 2: And if we go back three years, I think we
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  Speaker 2: were all very hopeful that New Zealanders and their household
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  Speaker 2: budgets would be feeling better now than some of them are.
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  Speaker 2: And so I'm really conscious of that, but I do
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  Speaker 2: know that we did everything we could within our power,
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  Speaker 2: consistent with the commitments we'd made to New Zealanders in
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  Speaker 2: terms of tidying up the books, delivering tax relief, ensuring
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  Speaker 2: we weren't adding to inflation, bringing in practical reforms. But
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  Speaker 2: I'm so keen to get another three years to lock
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  Speaker 2: in the progress. That would break my heart to see
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  Speaker 2: all the hard work we've done go to waste with just,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Chloe's war broke labour, spending all of it,
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  Speaker 2: before it's even come in. Taxing New Zealanders more and
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  Speaker 2: meaning that three years of work didn't actually deliver the
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  Speaker 2: goods that I believe they will in the years ahead
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  Speaker 2: if we stick to the plan.
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  Speaker 1: Great stuff. Hey, Nicola, thanks so much for your time
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  Speaker 1: this afternoon. Really appreciate it.