Latest / Best of Business / Grant McCallum: Northland MP reveals why Landcorp needs to improve its performance

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Grant McCallum: Northland MP reveals why Landcorp needs to improve its performance · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talk set be
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  Speaker 2: The government has written to our underperforming state owned enterprises
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  Speaker 2: telling them to buck up their ideas. The letters have
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  Speaker 2: gone to Land Corp, New Zealand, Post Cordia and a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of other so is telling them to perform at
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  Speaker 2: a similar level to their competitors in the private sector.
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  Speaker 2: Grant McCallum is the National MP for Northland, also a
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  Speaker 2: farmer and with us now Hay.
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  Speaker 3: Grunt, Yeah, good afternoon here that so I want to.
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  Speaker 2: Talk to you about land corpor because you understand this business.
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  Speaker 2: Why can't these guys turn a profit? What's going on?
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  Speaker 3: They've lost their way, They've lost the focused on just
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  Speaker 3: being the absolute basics of farming, which is to grow
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  Speaker 3: grass efficiently, feed their animals efficiently, and focus in on that.
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  Speaker 3: They've got lost in a whole lot of other ideas
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  Speaker 3: like we I think haven helped well. I think that
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  Speaker 3: they'll be able to trying to melk deer and things
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  Speaker 3: like that, which really I think most farming communities raise
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  Speaker 3: their eyebrows, that sort of thing, that the opportunities are there,
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  Speaker 3: but if we look at the prices at the moment
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  Speaker 3: we're getting for dairy products, for beef products, for land,
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  Speaker 3: the kiwi fruit and so forth, they should be doing
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  Speaker 3: a lot better than they are.
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  Speaker 2: How have they got themselves so wildly distracted?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think the previous leadership from previous from previous
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  Speaker 3: boards haven't helped, and the encouragement from previous ministers to
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  Speaker 3: get to go off on away from the basics of
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand farming isn't instag Is this.
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  Speaker 2: Not fundamentally Is the problem not fundamentally rooted in the
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  Speaker 2: fact that they do not have to turn a profit?
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  Speaker 2: Right if you do not turn a profit, you potentially
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  Speaker 2: lose your farm. If they don't turn a profit, it's
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  Speaker 2: a okay.
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  Speaker 3: I suspect that's been part of the issue because clearly
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  Speaker 3: with the results haven't been up to spect. But now
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  Speaker 3: then that's why I applaud the minister. What he's saying
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  Speaker 3: is they've got a focus on running this as a business.
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  Speaker 3: The taxpayer deserves nothing less. They should be turning well
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  Speaker 3: and excess fent of the get close to two billion
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  Speaker 3: dollars worth of as sets. They should be returning in
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  Speaker 3: excess of one hundred million minimum and getting up up
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  Speaker 3: towards a couple of hundred million dollars over time from
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  Speaker 3: some of those assets, which would be really help the
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  Speaker 3: governments and help pay for other services like our health
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  Speaker 3: and our social welfare and that sort of thing.
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  Speaker 2: So should we sell a stake in Land Corps?
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  Speaker 3: The current governments policy is that no, not this term
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  Speaker 3: of governments, and that's that It'll be for a decision
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  Speaker 3: to be made by the Prime Minister going forward.
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  Speaker 2: Basically, what I'm hearing from you is you have some
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  Speaker 2: thoughts on the matter, but because you're part of the
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  Speaker 2: National Party, you cannot share them with me right now.
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  Speaker 3: Fair fair to say that what we have to do
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  Speaker 3: now is get the performance out of this stat of
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  Speaker 3: enterprise and any decisions about sales will be for another day.
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  Speaker 3: But we committed this term and no asset sales.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, listen, what is it that you've been telling the
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  Speaker 2: producers You've got a problem with my views on rugby?
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  Speaker 1: What's going on?
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  Speaker 3: Well, actually, I finally quite intriguing either. I bumped into
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  Speaker 3: you a couple of times at Eden Park. You've been
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  Speaker 3: you've been on the radio having a crack at the
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  Speaker 3: game of rugby, one game I love and I tink
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  Speaker 3: sap and the super competition is he has been outstanding
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  Speaker 3: saying that you don't watch it anymore? Need you turn up?
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  Speaker 3: Then you turn up at Eden Park And why are
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  Speaker 3: you there?
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  Speaker 2: Because I'm there to talk to you, Grant. I want
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  Speaker 2: to be inside the corporate box talking to you, and
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  Speaker 2: you're talking to me. So you're not watching the game.
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  Speaker 3: Either, are Oh yes, I'm watching the rugby and so
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  Speaker 3: are you either. And I just think it's important that
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  Speaker 3: you're that your listeners know that you are really a
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  Speaker 3: rugby fan and you're just having a bit of fun.
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  Speaker 2: No that, No, I will say. You've got me in
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  Speaker 2: trouble now, haven't you, Grant. I'll see you at the
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  Speaker 2: corporate box, mate, Bie Grant McCallum, Northland Farmer. Hey listen
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  Speaker 2: and MP No, no, no, no, no, no, let's just get
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  Speaker 2: this straight. Okay. I love rugby, which is why I
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  Speaker 2: winge about it because I can see it going down
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  Speaker 2: the toilet and I'm not watching it. I'm standing there.
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  Speaker 2: I literally am standing there talking to Grant. And it's
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  Speaker 2: because of my love of rugby that I complain about it.
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  Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
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  Speaker 2: You know what I Mean.
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