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Simon Bridges: Auckland Business Chamber CEO on his expectations for Budget 2026 · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Simon Bridges open Business Chamber with me this morning. Because
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: it's budget day. Government's meant to be back to service
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: by twenty thirty. Will they get there, maybe even get
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: their earlier shaved a few hundred mile off the operating
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: allowance banking those public service cuts are saving Simon, good.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Morning, Hey, good morning, Ryan.
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  Speaker 2: Predictions for this one.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Oh, sensible, prude and boring Presbyterian budget, no fun whatsoever.
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  Speaker 3: And that's fair enough. I mean most listening to right
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  Speaker 3: now will get that's what's probably required. I think there
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: will be one or two good is saved up. Though
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: you can see they've got a little bit spare there
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: in terms of what they're breed prioritized. I think there's
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: also a sense, Ryan, it's probably not what you want
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: to hear, but budgets aren't what they used to be,
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: these sort of swashbuckling Muldoon or Roger Douglas ones where
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: you know, in a commander control economy, you'd transform at
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  Speaker 3: things in twenty four hours of massive tech hot tex
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  Speaker 3: hikes or cuts or or something like that, and I
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: think in the recent political past they just they haven't
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: moved poles the way they used to. So I think
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  Speaker 3: that's sort of true. I mean my wish is personally,
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  Speaker 3: I reckon good policy can be for free. More important
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  Speaker 3: even than the spending and the cutting I'll be looking for,
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  Speaker 3: But it's little nuggets that tell us about the future
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  Speaker 3: policy direction. So please, Nicolas Stake states some strong positions,
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: defend them and stick with them in education and health
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  Speaker 3: and energy reform and regulatory reform. Your growth government, well
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: that's good. How exactly a you're going to lift innovation,
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  Speaker 3: productivity and growth. And I think secondly, look, yeah, we
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: accept I think you know most of us. It's a
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: restraint time. This is about sort of reprioritizing and probably
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: will be fit of foreseeable future. But I want to
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: see evidence that the government understands the difference between just
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  Speaker 3: spending that is frettering on large social project programs and
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  Speaker 3: real investment that is stuff that actually is own to
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  Speaker 3: grow the economy. So cut some needless spending to fund
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  Speaker 3: investment that's growing stuff.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: You're absolutely right about the budget, I mean half of
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  Speaker 2: it's announced beforehand these days, anyway, just very quickly on
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  Speaker 2: the surplus. Is there from what you can see, is
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  Speaker 2: there enough room? Has she cut or made enough room
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  Speaker 2: in order to bring them? And it depends on the forecast,
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  Speaker 2: But bring the surplus actually forward, because that would be
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  Speaker 2: a good way to go into an election campaign, wouldn't it.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Look, I just think and this is no
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  Speaker 3: sort of value judgment on anyone. I just think it's
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  Speaker 3: such a tough global economy and local economy. The numbers
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: from Treasury and tensive predictions, if they're real and objective,
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  Speaker 3: and I'm sure they will be that they are going
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  Speaker 3: to be tough, and so I you know, personally, I
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  Speaker 3: wouldn't be holding my breath in a massive way in
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  Speaker 3: that regard. We'll see, as I say, more than that
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  Speaker 3: kind of you know, I don't want to say theoretical,
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  Speaker 3: but theoretical thing into the future, as I say, good policy,
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  Speaker 3: what are you investing in to get some growth? Because
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  Speaker 3: actually growth is ultimately what gets you to surface the
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  Speaker 3: more importantly importantly, a stronger economy for real New Zealanders
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: out there doing it tough.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Simon Bridges Orkland Business Chamber Budget Day two pm. No
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  Speaker 2: one I'll be watching, but you'll hear about it for sure.
• 3:27
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