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John Small: Commerce Commission Chair unpacks the report looking at the country's most and least competitive sectors · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: First of it's kind of report from the Comments Commission
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  Speaker 2: this morning looks into a bunch of our industries to
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  Speaker 2: see how competitive they are. Overall competition has weakened and
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  Speaker 2: market conditions this will not be a surprise. Do you
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  Speaker 2: also favor the big incumbents, especially in areas like electricity, gas,
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  Speaker 2: water and insurance? Doctor John Small, as the Commerce Commission chairing,
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  Speaker 2: is with us. John, very good morning to you. Are
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  Speaker 2: you're telling us anything that we know at the end
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  Speaker 2: of the day, don't actually know.
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  Speaker 3: There's quite a bit in here that we knew about before.
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  Speaker 3: But there are some interesting wrinkles as well, So it
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  Speaker 3: won't be any surprise to people that are construction and
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  Speaker 3: in the hospital sector are pretty competitives, and some people
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  Speaker 3: are doing it quite hard. There some of the surprises.
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  Speaker 3: And really I think the services sector is particularly interesting.
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  Speaker 2: How much is it just simply a five million people problem.
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  Speaker 2: We're not big enough for more competition.
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  Speaker 3: There's some aspect of that, for sure, but I think
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  Speaker 3: we can do a lot better than we are. That's
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  Speaker 3: why we go to work every day to try and
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  Speaker 3: promote competition.
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  Speaker 2: But if you can do a lot better than what
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  Speaker 2: you are, why aren't we and why is it seemingly
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  Speaker 2: so difficult to do that?
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's not a fast process. What this report is
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  Speaker 3: doing is helping us target our efforts. I think it'll
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  Speaker 3: help other people see where issues may be, and we're
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  Speaker 3: encouraging other people to have a go at the data.
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  Speaker 3: The whole set of sitting up there on our website.
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  Speaker 2: Is any of it on you, guys? Because an insurance
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  Speaker 2: you allowed mergers, and supermarkets you've allowed mergers the very
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  Speaker 2: industries you're now saying don't have enough competition.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think the supermarket merger is on us, really
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  Speaker 3: might that was a law change issue that caused that.
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  Speaker 3: But some of this, you know, I mean, for sure,
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  Speaker 3: there's the commissions of our murgers in the past, and
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  Speaker 3: our job is to screen those and try and make
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  Speaker 3: the best decision at the time.
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  Speaker 2: What I account work out. See supermarkets is a fascination
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  Speaker 2: to me, So we bitched mine about supermarkets. The Finance
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  Speaker 2: Minister is trying to draw bone the supermarket situation. You've
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  Speaker 2: been involved in the supermarket situation. I look across the
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  Speaker 2: Tasman Where are they at the moment? They're in court
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  Speaker 2: because no one's happy with supermarket, So I mean, is
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  Speaker 2: it competition or is it an urban myth?
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  Speaker 3: This competition issue in supermarkets in my opinion, and part
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  Speaker 3: of it is to do the complicated situation and there
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  Speaker 3: partly to do with the rebates that supermarkets are getting
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  Speaker 3: from suppliers.
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  Speaker 2: The weakening, you argue, there's weakening generally across advanced economies
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  Speaker 2: in general. So are we an outlier or just part
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  Speaker 2: of a Western malaise.
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  Speaker 3: I think agencies like ours around the world, and we
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  Speaker 3: do talk to them, are facing increasing challenges, so there
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  Speaker 3: is some there's some commonality there, but there's also new
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  Speaker 3: technologies coming in that opposing new problems and requiring us
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  Speaker 3: to keep our systems up to date as well.
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  Speaker 2: Who works well? Have you got an example of who
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  Speaker 2: actually works well in this country? As a sector.
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  Speaker 3: In terms of competition, there's the couple I mentioned at
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  Speaker 3: the top there in construction and accommodation and food services
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  Speaker 3: are both reasonably competitive. Sectors that are getting better over
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  Speaker 3: the period the twenty years include rental and hiring services
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  Speaker 3: and admin and support services. These are really big groups though,
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  Speaker 3: you know, so there've quite a bit of detail.
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  Speaker 2: Underneath that certain irony and saying construction is competitive. It's
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  Speaker 2: so competitive half of them go bust, which is well,
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  Speaker 2: isn't it?
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  Speaker 3: And the same with hospital right, I mean it's a
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  Speaker 3: tough business, yes it is.
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  Speaker 2: Where are you at? While I got to John, this
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  Speaker 2: Brimworth thing fascinates me. What's what's the delay on the
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  Speaker 2: Brimworth merge? What's going on there?
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  Speaker 3: I look you, I'm not sitting on that one. So
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  Speaker 3: I'm kept appraised of it, but.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not as you're appraised of it. Do you not say, well,
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  Speaker 2: what the hell is going on? How come this is
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  Speaker 2: taking so long? And it's either regard or it's not,
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  Speaker 2: isn't it?
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  Speaker 3: Mike? The process for mergers is got to be fact
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  Speaker 3: intensive and it's got to be detailed. As you just
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  Speaker 3: said before regarding supermarkets and insurance. You know you have
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  Speaker 3: to get these differents right.
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  Speaker 2: Fair nice talk? Do you appreciate it?
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  Speaker 3: Very much?
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  Speaker 2: John Small? Doctor John Small, the Commerce Commission Chair.
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