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Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO on business confidence rising to 40% in the September quarter · 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 2: It looks like business confidence is rebounding as we head
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  Speaker 2: towards the election. NZIER's quarterly survey of business opinion shows
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  Speaker 2: confidence jumped in the September quarter with a net 40%
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  Speaker 2: of firms thinking the economy will improve, and that's up
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  Speaker 2: from just 14% in June. Now, that's amazing because there's
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  Speaker 2: always downsides with the world economy, etc., And of course,
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  Speaker 2: what it also means is weak demand. And that remains
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  Speaker 2: a challenge. Skilled workers are harder to find and higher
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  Speaker 2: oil prices are creating uncertainty. So Business Canterbury CEO Leanne
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  Speaker 2: Watson is with me now. Good morning to you, Leanne.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Andrew.
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  Speaker 2: Are you feeling it in Canterbury?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, look, we certainly are. And this is great news
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  Speaker 3: to hear that we are seeing this lift across the country,
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  Speaker 3: which is great. It definitely reflects what we have been
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  Speaker 3: seeing in Canterbury through our own survey and also just
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  Speaker 3: what we're hearing on the ground. Our numbers are a
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  Speaker 3: little higher. with around 72% of Canterbury firms expecting stronger
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  Speaker 3: financial performance over the next 12 months, but really positive
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  Speaker 3: news all around.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you live in the promised land, don't you? And
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  Speaker 2: there's an awful lot going very, very well for you.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think the businesses are finally going, stop worrying
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  Speaker 2: about everything, stop worrying about the government, stop worrying about
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump, stop worrying about tariffs, just do it?
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  Speaker 3: Look, absolutely. You know, I guess there have been a
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  Speaker 3: lot of adversity, a lot of challenges over the last
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  Speaker 3: five years, and I think businesses have now come to
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  Speaker 3: the conclusion that actually change is really the only constant
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  Speaker 3: that they are going to see. So they've definitely become
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  Speaker 3: used to adapting and really focusing on the things that
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  Speaker 3: they can control. Those are the things that are common
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  Speaker 3: across our business community, and I think we're starting to
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  Speaker 3: see that across the rest of the country as well. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: We've got an election coming up. How is business feeling?
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  Speaker 2: What do you want to hear from our politicians today?
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  Speaker 3: Well, when we talk about certainty, that is certainly one
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  Speaker 3: of the things that businesses are wanting. And we know
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  Speaker 3: that that's really tricky, particularly, as I say, around the
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  Speaker 3: things that we can't control, like, you know, at the moment,
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  Speaker 3: our fuel prices and some of the geopolitical tensions. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we do want to see policies that will
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  Speaker 3: help businesses be more productive. We want to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that they've got access to, you know, the right people.
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  Speaker 3: And that includes some of the skilled labour that you
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  Speaker 3: mentioned in your lead-in. And we also want to make
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  Speaker 3: sure that the policies, if you get out of the
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  Speaker 3: way and and reduce compliance where they just simply don't
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  Speaker 3: add any value. I think we are starting to see
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  Speaker 3: some good talk across bipartisan agreements on some of the
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  Speaker 3: big issues that really help or hinder businesses. So that's
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  Speaker 3: really positive to see. I guess we'll work out whether
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  Speaker 3: or not that comes through after the election.
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  Speaker 2: Well, just keep on doing it and have a great day.
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  Speaker 2: And I thank you for your time today, Business Canterbury
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  Speaker 2: CEO Leanne Watson.
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