Latest / Best of Business / Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on the Government bolstering Kiwibank in a bid to increase banking competition

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Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on the Government bolstering Kiwibank in a bid to increase banking competition · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks. It'd be
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  Speaker 1: follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Barry Soper right now, senior political correspondent, Very good afternoon.
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  Speaker 3: Good afternoon, right, lovely to see you. Nice to see you.
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  Speaker 2: Kiwi Banks getting some cash.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, look, this has been talked about for so long,
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  Speaker 3: hasn't it And it was it was inevitable that was
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  Speaker 3: going to happen. And this has really come out of
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  Speaker 3: the banking inquiry by the ComCom and the government says
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  Speaker 3: it'll be accepting all its recommendations. I think they made
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  Speaker 3: fourteen and that's for open banking and the like that
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  Speaker 3: the big trading banks will be expected to abide by.
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  Speaker 3: But it's pushing ahead with moves to increase banking competition,
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  Speaker 3: they say. But interestingly, Ryan, they're not going internationally for this.
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  Speaker 3: They're going locally, so Kiwibank's parent company, Kiwi Group Capital
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  Speaker 3: and Treasury, they'll be going out with the egging bowl
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  Speaker 3: to Kiwi Savor Funds. They'll be looking at investment institutions,
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  Speaker 3: professional investor groups, potential investments of up to five hundred
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  Speaker 3: million dollars. And they say, you know This is going
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  Speaker 3: to really make a Kiwi Bank a much better competitor
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  Speaker 3: for the big Australian For Nicol Willison's reckons that the
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  Speaker 3: big four Australian owned banks will get a hurry up
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  Speaker 3: to respond more generously to customers.
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  Speaker 4: Zelland is often seen as the little brother against the Aussies.
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  Speaker 4: We want to give that little brother a little bit
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  Speaker 4: more muscle to get a fairer deal. For Kiwi's advice
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  Speaker 4: to the government is that an additional five hundred million
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  Speaker 4: dollars of capital could support up to four billion dollars
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  Speaker 4: of business lending or ten billion dollars of home lending.
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  Speaker 4: That is sufficient to add competitive pressure to the market
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  Speaker 4: and potentially benefit customers of other banks as well Kiwibank.
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  Speaker 4: Today we are putting the major banks on notice. We
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  Speaker 4: expect them to act on the Commerce Commission's recommendations, including
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  Speaker 4: through improvements to the bank switching service and open banking reform.
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  Speaker 4: Our message to the banks is this, The time to
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  Speaker 4: act is now. If you drag your heels, the government
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  Speaker 4: is leaving open the possibility of further action.
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  Speaker 3: So watch out.
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  Speaker 2: Nicholas on the wall part, do you think they're going
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  Speaker 2: to be listening to that. I mean, in my mind,
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  Speaker 2: is this going to turn Kiwi Bank from a little chihuahua,
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  Speaker 2: you know, yapping at your heels into a pitbull?
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  Speaker 3: While it's not going to turn it into something like
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  Speaker 3: the Big four Australian banks. There's no doubt about that.
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  Speaker 2: That's all talk and bluster.
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  Speaker 3: No it's not. I think you know, a capitalization of
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  Speaker 3: the Kiwi Bank has been talked about for so long.
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  Speaker 3: Don't forget old Jim Anders and I still remember him
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  Speaker 3: opening his account opening Kiwi Bank and Michael Cullen, who
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  Speaker 3: was the Finance Minister at the time, had to be
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  Speaker 3: kicking and s drag kicking and screaming to approve the
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  Speaker 3: bank has Finance Minister. So look, this bank has really wallowed,
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  Speaker 3: you'd have to say, compared to the Big four. So
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  Speaker 3: hopefully with capitalization we'll see it more into business and
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  Speaker 3: more into home lending, more competitively.
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  Speaker 2: Good, if nothing else, good for consumers.
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  Speaker 3: Like that totally.
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  Speaker 2: Let's talk about this pole. So this is the latest
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  Speaker 2: and last for the year, tax Union, Caurier Pole and Shift.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know it's fascinating again too, Ryan when you
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  Speaker 3: look at National and Labor both down four and a
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  Speaker 3: half percent. That's big. Well, National's on thirty four points
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  Speaker 3: thirty four percent, The Green the Labor Party is on
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  Speaker 3: just on twenty seven percent. But you know, for a
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  Speaker 3: government after the first year, this is really low. I
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  Speaker 3: can't recall a government after one year being so low.
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  Speaker 3: And interestingly, the party that's made all the running, if
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  Speaker 3: you like, and clearly it's doing it to damage National,
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  Speaker 3: although they would never admit that. His Act well, look
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  Speaker 3: at Act, it's up four and a half percent.
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  Speaker 2: Strategy, strategy is working well, it is.
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  Speaker 3: Working and David Seymour knows this. And when he brought
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  Speaker 3: in the Treaty Principal's Bill, he knew that it would
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  Speaker 3: lead to significant debate. It painted National into a corner
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  Speaker 3: and there's a poll coming out tomorrow that will show
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  Speaker 3: that New Zealanders in fact are pretty much behind the
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  Speaker 3: debate and maybe a change in the way we view
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  Speaker 3: the treaty.
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  Speaker 2: So the question was luxe and wrong to strengthen his
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  Speaker 2: narrative because he's driven four and a half percent of
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  Speaker 2: his voters to act.
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  Speaker 3: That's right, and it's going to be very hard for
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  Speaker 3: him now to extract himself from that corner. And can't
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  Speaker 3: run well if you look at the exactly this trimes
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  Speaker 3: a bit difficult. But if you look at the act Party,
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  Speaker 3: you know they they really are now in a prime position,
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  Speaker 3: going well, they've got two years to go, so we've
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  Speaker 3: got a long way to go. But David Seymour is
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  Speaker 3: very good at this day. If there was an election
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  Speaker 3: held tomorrow, they would have the same number of seats
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  Speaker 3: that Winston Peters had at the first MMP election in
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  Speaker 3: nineteen ninety six, seventeen seats. And look, they'll be very
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  Speaker 3: happy with the way they're going at the moment. But
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  Speaker 3: even the old Greens, for goodness sake, what have they
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  Speaker 3: done about a hell of a year? And yeah, down
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  Speaker 3: one eight point three they well, see they've got that
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  Speaker 3: really strong base, haven't they. Winston still above six But
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  Speaker 3: the Moldy Party, for goodness sake, they're up one seat.
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  Speaker 3: They'll get one more seat in Parliament, so at least
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  Speaker 3: Labor will have a good coalition partner if they can
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  Speaker 3: scrape together the Green.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting, but I mean, I guess the thing is
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  Speaker 2: and we probably have to move on, but it sustainable?
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  Speaker 2: Are those numbers for those minor parties? You know, once
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  Speaker 2: this debate moves on you know.
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  Speaker 3: All over the place.
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  Speaker 2: Basically, all right, let's finish with the boot camps. Opposition
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  Speaker 2: to them growing? Is it fear?
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  Speaker 3: I know we haven't got much time, but look, I
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  Speaker 3: saw a breathless Benedict Collins on TV one News last night,
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  Speaker 3: you know, basically asking Karen sure well he had us earlier.
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  Speaker 3: If these young offenders harmed in New Zealanders, would she resign?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, for goodness sake, if you look at all
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  Speaker 3: the people that deal with young people in situations like this,
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  Speaker 3: two kids running away who are little toe rags anyway
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  Speaker 3: to be there in the first place. They they've obviously
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  Speaker 3: not taken the chance to turn their life around. Bad
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  Speaker 3: luck for them, But for the others that are staying,
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  Speaker 3: good luck for them, and those that care about young
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  Speaker 3: people say let the continue, and so do I.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, good on you, Barry, Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 2: Good to see you. Barry Soper, Senior political correspondent.
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