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Nicola Willis: Finance Minister speaks ahead of Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update release · The SME Stream

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we'll get to Shane Sully with the market shortly,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the MTA on Wafts and Gavin Gray out of the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: UK before top of the hour. Right now, Nikola willis
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the Finance when it joins me live minister, good evening,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: good evening run. I'm assuming you would have been pleased
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: to see this statement that Arna Breman has come out
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: with the Reserve Bank governor kind of fixing up or
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: correcting what the market was interpreting from that November meeting.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Well, she did note that financial market conditions had tightened
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: beyond what was implied by the Reserve Bank central projection,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: that they were monitoring that and would continue to assess it.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: And I note that the market has responded since she
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: made that statement, with wholesale rates coming down.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It's great. I mean, I know you can't direct the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Reserve Bank tell them what to do, but did you
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: say or give a nudge to say, hey, maybe you
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: need to clarify your position, or you know, tell us
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: what you really think about it something like that.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: I think this is entirely consistent with what doctor Braman
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: has said she will do, which has been open, transparent,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: clear communicator, and that's what she's achieved with the.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Statement, God, isn't it refreshing?
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: It's good, she's great, She's a great appointment.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Ryan Right, did Cabinet talk about the terror attack in
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Sydney today and if so, what was discussed?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, we did. We shared our concern how what was
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: clearly an anti Semitic attack and how vulnerable that makes
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Jewish people feel around the world, but particularly here at home.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: We talked about our shared support for that community and
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: our willingness to do what's required to ensure they continue
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: to feel safe here in New Zealand, and just our
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: general feeling of horror that such an event could occur,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: in our sympathy for all Australians affected by it.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Could you get any updates on security alerts for New
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Zealand whether we need to be more worried here?
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: No, that wasn't what happened at cabinet, and regardless, we
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: don't comment publicly on matters of national security.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Debra Hart, who's with the Holocaust Center, she came on
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the program today and unprompted, she singled out Chloe Swarbrick
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: for some of her language and rhetoric around Jewish people.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Do you think politicians need to take this as as
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: a sign to call the jets.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes they do. We need to be really careful
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: that in attacking the policies of a particular government, as
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: some political parties have done with regard to Israel, we
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: don't incite violence and hatred against the people, the Jewish people.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: And there is no question I know from speaking to
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the Jewish community that many in that community have felt
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: singled out by some of the rhetoric coming from politicians
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: in our parliament. There is no place for anti Semitism
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: in New Zealand. Every Jewish person in this country deserves
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to feel safe.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: You've got the hay for coming out this week. And
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: while everyone reckons you're going to push a serpl so
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I mean we did this, will you push the surplus
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: out or not dance last week? So we won't do
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: it again this week? But do you have any do
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: you have anything you want to say about that? Because people,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: I think people are expecting it now, Minister.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: You see, well there's one sleep to go and tomorrow.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: What I get to set out is the government's continued
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: path back to surplus, our path to bending the debt
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: curve down, all of which can be achieved with ongoing
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: fiscal discipline. Importantly, I also get to update the Treasury's
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: economic forecasts, and that's what shows the picture for more
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: job creation and come growth into the future, people doing better.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: And then on Thursday we get the actual update to
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: what's happened in the economy over the past few months
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: and all the signs from economists, including my own, that
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: we actually grew faster in that September quarter than anyone
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: was previously prepared to predict.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Right, let's talk about the debate. It's I'm calling it
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: a weird debate because it seems it's gone on too long. Like,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: just do it, or just shut up a bit.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I'll look home with you, Ryan. We've booked a venue.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: All that matters to me is there's a moderator. The
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: tax payers Union can live with that, all media can
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: be there, happens this week so that we can get
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: it done. I'm up for it. But look, it seems
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that there's all sorts of coming and going from the
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: other side. Frankly, if they don't want to have the debate,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: that's on them.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: So so what was what moderators did you agree to?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: You agreed to the Bank the Cameron Bagriy, Winston Peters
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: and they won't agree to that or something like that.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: So yeah, we said, look, cam Bag, refine, Winston Peter's fine,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Toby manheih, fine, that doesn't really matter to us. The
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: key thing is I didn't want the timing to clash
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: with the release of GDP economic data on thusday, and
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: that I thought it was important that all media be
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: able to cover the event. Other than that, I don't
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: really care.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Let's do it, Okay, Well they wanted to have it
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: on this program, So did you not agree to that?
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: What's wrong with this program?
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Look, I'm an equal opportunity player and I didn't want
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: to preference one media outlet over another. There was interest
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: from everyone. TV and Z wanted to host.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: It, stuff wanted to host Who cares.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: New Zealand even put in a y me.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: You got radio, you got online, you got streaming, you
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: got you got everything under the sun, all handed to
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: you on a plant Minister.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: And well, I'd certainly want you to be covering it,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: that's for sure, which is partly why we rejected the
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: idea of just doing it, for example, on the platform.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Let everyone did the platform get in there with a
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: bid too. Yes, did anyone not come in with a bid, Not.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: That I'm aware of. There was, There was widespread interest.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And look for me, you know, I want it to
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: be about the substance, which is that I have very
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: good answers to a lot of the half bait attext.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: We'll have to be that particular lobby group mate, and
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I would re relish the opportunity to give them rebuttal
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: in real time.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: We'll have to take you with for I suspect this
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: thing is not going to happen. It's going to be
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: for anyway, let's talk about that. So Avatar, by the way,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: I saw you at the premiere, you looked fantastic in
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the frock gown whatever it was, in the walking down
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: the red carpet. So that's great. What about what about
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: thank you?
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you, run, thank you. This is totally what I
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: was expecting in my interview.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: This the rebate situation though, So James Cameron saying, you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: this is good, but we could do more. Does he
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: have a point, because if it works, then you want
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: to be competitive, don't you.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Well, look, we have made a confirmation that we're going
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: to continue that rebate, and that involved a big commitment
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: in this year's budget, and I've listened to the sector
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: who said to me, look, you need to make some
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: tweaks to this monaster if you want to attract more
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: international productions. We made some changes a few weeks ago
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: that have been welcomed by the sector and which actually
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: the Film Commission have told me has led to more
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: expressions of interest very rapidly following those changes. So look,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: we're a listening government. We want the film sector to
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: succeed here and we'll make sure that those settings are
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: working to ensure we get international productions coming here, creating
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: keyw jobs, creating big Kiwi incomes. That's what we want
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: to see.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Brilliant. Hey minister, this will be our final chat for
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the year. Well, I'm off on Thursday. You'll be off
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: whenever you're off. What are your plans this summer?
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm very fortunate. I'm going to go to Riversdale
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Beach on the Widded Upper Coast with our kids and
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: they'll be doing surf life saying, I'll be reading a
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: couple of novels and maybe having a gen T or two.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Enjoy well deserved rest. Nicola Willis, the Finance Minister for
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to news talks.
• 7:54
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• 7:58
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