Latest / Best of Business / Nicola Willis: Finance Minister voices disapproval with proposed changes to infant formula laws

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Nicola Willis: Finance Minister voices disapproval with proposed changes to infant formula laws · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
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  Speaker 2: Nichola Willis is the Finance Minister Hei Nicola, Hi, Heather,
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  Speaker 2: are you happy for those fairies to keep running for
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  Speaker 2: another five years?
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  Speaker 3: Well? As you will have seen. Ebie Rowl have today
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  Speaker 3: published their expert advice that I got from the world
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  Speaker 3: experts in boats, and they say that those boats are
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  Speaker 3: actually in pretty good condition. They're doing better than you
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  Speaker 3: would expect at this point, and they say with good
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  Speaker 3: maintenance and good operation they can operate for several more years.
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  Speaker 3: My focus is on making sure that they do maintain
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  Speaker 3: them really well and that we do have replacements sorted
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  Speaker 3: out and I'm confident.
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  Speaker 2: With well mean, it's not very I know they say
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  Speaker 2: they're operationally safe, but it's not very reassuring to hear
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  Speaker 2: they're close to opso lessoned parts of them and difficult
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  Speaker 2: to repair.
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  Speaker 3: Well. I think all of us have had that experience
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  Speaker 3: with something before, and Kiev Rowl's responsibility every time those
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  Speaker 3: fairies go on the water with passengers in them, that
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  Speaker 3: they are one hundred percent confident they are safe.
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  Speaker 2: It isn't that the problem. Well, isn't that the problem,
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  Speaker 2: because what we've been shown time and time again is
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  Speaker 2: that they're difficult to repair, and then you find out
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  Speaker 2: kee we Rail has badly repaired them using tape they
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  Speaker 2: shouldn't have used, and the things fallen apart.
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  Speaker 3: Well, as ministers, we have made it crystal clear that
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  Speaker 3: our expectation is that KWI Rail does everything possible. That
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  Speaker 3: includes what it spends on maintenance, That includes the decisions
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  Speaker 3: it takes to ensure that those ships are safe.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so we ken spectation recept we can replacements that
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  Speaker 2: they will.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we have been given confidence that we can get
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  Speaker 3: replacements here well ahead of that twenty twenty nine date.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, how well ahead, Well, we'll.
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  Speaker 3: Have announcements to make about that in due course. We're
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  Speaker 3: just working through those options and we will have more
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  Speaker 3: to say about it. How soon, soon enough, we will
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  Speaker 3: when we know that there is a lot of interest
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  Speaker 3: in this.
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  Speaker 2: The last time I spoke to you, which was like
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  Speaker 2: maybe two or three weeks ago, you said that it
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  Speaker 2: could potentially be in the next three months.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
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  Speaker 2: It hasn't changed.
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  Speaker 3: Well, Look, the last government fell into a terrible mistake,
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  Speaker 3: which was it made a quick decision which was the
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  Speaker 3: wrong decision, and we want to be in a position
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  Speaker 3: as a government where we make a sensible decision that
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  Speaker 3: will pay off the New Zealanders over the long term.
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  Speaker 2: Listener, we're going to support the Assies when we get
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  Speaker 2: the Food ministers get together on Thursday on the infant
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  Speaker 2: formula thing.
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  Speaker 3: There is no way that we can support a provision
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  Speaker 3: which would wipe potentially two billion dollars of export revenue away,
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  Speaker 3: So we will not be supporting that regulation. Our exporters
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  Speaker 3: are too important and we will be seeking a review
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  Speaker 3: of those rules when Food ministers meet in Adelaide this week.
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  Speaker 2: How keen are the Aussies on it?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, my understanding is that ben are of a
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  Speaker 3: mind to support it, but they have a much smaller
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  Speaker 3: infant formula industry than we do. For us, this is
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  Speaker 3: a multi billion dollar issue for them. There's potentially a
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  Speaker 3: few hundred million dollars at stake, and ultimately this comes
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  Speaker 3: down to are we competitors with Europeans and others who
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  Speaker 3: produce the formula and we're not prepared as listers to
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  Speaker 3: put our industry in a position where they're facing much
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  Speaker 3: harder rules than our competitors internationally are that's ridiculous. That's
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  Speaker 3: cutting off our nose despite our face, and we will
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  Speaker 3: be setting a review.
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  Speaker 2: Nikola, what's your take as a mum on what is
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  Speaker 2: going on here with the kind of demonizing of infant
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  Speaker 2: formula so that people go to breastfeeding.
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  Speaker 3: My take on a mum is, even as a mum,
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  Speaker 3: even with the best will in the world, there will
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  Speaker 3: always be some of us who for some reason can't
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  Speaker 3: breastfeed at a particular point, or who choose not to.
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  Speaker 3: That is life, that is reality. I was really fortunate
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  Speaker 3: I was able to breastfeed all of my children, But boy,
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  Speaker 3: oh boy, did I need infant formula to supplement. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: I that is not make me carerible. What I want
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  Speaker 3: to know is that the infant formula I'm giving my
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  Speaker 3: baby is safe. It's actually New Zealand infant formula providers
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  Speaker 3: create safe infant formula and that's what at stakes and
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  Speaker 3: we shouldn't get so overboard that we demonize infant formula
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  Speaker 3: or the mothers and families who use it too.
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  Speaker 2: Right now, listen, how many more of these court cases
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  Speaker 2: from the unions are you expecting over public service dismissals?
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  Speaker 3: Well, The advice that I've had is that this will
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  Speaker 3: not affect the vast majority of public sector restructures because
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  Speaker 3: this clause is only found in a few contracts, and
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  Speaker 3: I'm confident that the Ministry of Education and other affected
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  Speaker 3: agencies will be able to continue with your restructure once
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  Speaker 3: the legal obligations have been met.
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  Speaker 2: How many other affected agencies are there?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I've been advised that the Public Service Commission is
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  Speaker 3: looking at that, but it's less than half a dozen
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  Speaker 3: potential contracts which are at stake, because, of course, way
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  Speaker 3: agency might have several contracts and only some of will
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  Speaker 3: contain this particular clause.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, and do we know which agencies?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I have had advice about that, and of course,
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  Speaker 3: in each instance there's still the opportunity for those agencies
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  Speaker 3: to reflect on the findings of the Employment Authority and
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  Speaker 3: make sure they take those findings into account as they
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  Speaker 3: conduct their restructuring processes. It's our expectation that all employers
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  Speaker 3: follow the law, and that includes government employers.
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  Speaker 2: Can you tell us which agencies?
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  Speaker 3: I understand that the Ministry for Social Development and or
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  Speaker 3: Ranger Tamariki are among them.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so you guys, I just saw it come through
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  Speaker 2: about an hour ago. You guys are expected to apologize.
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  Speaker 2: Are you after the release of that Royal Commission of
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  Speaker 2: Inquiry into State care abuse?
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  Speaker 3: Look, that report will be released on Wednesday. That will
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  Speaker 3: be a very important day. I had spent some time
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  Speaker 3: over the weekend reading portions of their purport. It's more
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  Speaker 3: than three thousand pages of total. Its findings are extremely significant.
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  Speaker 3: The stories it tells are really harrowing, and we will
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  Speaker 3: be taking great care as a government on Wednesday and
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  Speaker 3: in the weeks and months following to respond to it appropriately.
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  Speaker 2: So are you apologizing on Wednesday or sometime thereafter?
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  Speaker 3: We want to make sure that a new crown apology
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  Speaker 3: is offered when all affected survivors are able to be there.
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  Speaker 3: We want to make sure that it's done an appropriate
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  Speaker 3: way in consultation with those survivors. So on Wednesday we
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  Speaker 3: will offer our response. It's a very significant day, but
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  Speaker 3: it would not be the setting for the formal apology.
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  Speaker 2: Niicola, Can we actually stop the stuff from happening?
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  Speaker 3: Though? We have an obligation to ensure that when people
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  Speaker 3: are being looked after by the state, we have taken
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  Speaker 3: steps to ensure that they are safe, that there are
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  Speaker 3: independent oversights to look at their safety, that when they
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  Speaker 3: make complaints they are taken seriously. And I am convinced
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  Speaker 3: by what I have read that there is much more
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  Speaker 3: that we can do and should have done in the past.
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  Speaker 3: And will there still be individual human beings who are
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  Speaker 3: bad people? Yes, that is a fact. But can we
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  Speaker 3: make sure our systems are better?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Nichola, thank you very much. I really appreciate Nichola.
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  Speaker 2: Will us the Finance.
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