Latest / Best of Business / Nicola Willis: Finance Minister weighs in on the US' attacks on Iran

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Nicola Willis: Finance Minister weighs in on the US' attacks on Iran · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
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  Speaker 2: Nicola Willis Finance Minister Hei Nakeler, Hi, Nicola, what's our
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  Speaker 2: government's position on the US bombing.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we continue to be a strong supporter of the
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  Speaker 3: international rule based order. At the same time, we've consistently
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  Speaker 3: opposed Iran's nuclear program along with other countries, and we
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  Speaker 3: believe that Iran should never possess a nuke. And we've
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  Speaker 3: acknowledged the US statement to the UN Security Council that
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  Speaker 3: it was acting in collective self defense consistent with the
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  Speaker 3: UN Charter and our position now as we support all
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  Speaker 3: efforts at diplomacy and de escalation, that is good for
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  Speaker 3: the world.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so we're not doing the same as the Australians are.
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  Speaker 2: They're backing the US bombing. We're not doing that.
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 3: I think Penny Wong's made statements today Obviously the basis
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  Speaker 3: of her position is similar, and that the Australia also
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  Speaker 3: like New Zealand, has consistently opposed Iran's nuclear program. They
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  Speaker 3: are continuing to call for diplomacy and dialogue. They too
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  Speaker 3: support the real based order. So it made a quote
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  Speaker 3: statement today.
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  Speaker 2: Let me quote Anthony Albanezi for you. He said, the
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  Speaker 2: world has long agreed Iran cannot be allowed to get
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  Speaker 2: a nuclear weapon. We support action to prevent that. That
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  Speaker 2: is what this is.
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  Speaker 3: Well, baking sure that our Foreign minister will continue to
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  Speaker 3: make comments in the coming days as the situation developed.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so we basically we need more evidence yet.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think our Foreign Minister is continuing to take
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  Speaker 3: briefings and observe the situation, and we've made our position
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  Speaker 3: on a number of principled matters very clear, and we
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  Speaker 3: will continue to comment in response to events as they unfold.
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  Speaker 2: Do we believe they're trying to make a nuke?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that is certainly what the US have said, and
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  Speaker 3: I cannot give you access to any particular information that
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  Speaker 3: I've received or briefing that I've received on that matter.
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  Speaker 3: So I say that that was the position of the US.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, if we accept that they were probably come on,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, like circumstantially, it looks like they were trying
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  Speaker 2: to make a nuke, right, and they have a good
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  Speaker 2: motivation to try to make it.
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  Speaker 3: They had bunkers under the ground, didn't they.
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  Speaker 2: So kind of a little. Yeah, and as well as that,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, a new could prevent this kind
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  Speaker 2: of thing happening to them, So they have good reason
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  Speaker 2: to want to make a nuke. Now, if they are
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  Speaker 2: trying to make a nuke, what other option did we
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  Speaker 2: Was there another option rather than just bombing them?
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  Speaker 3: Well, of course, our long standing position has been that
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  Speaker 3: we support diplomatic efforts rather than military efforts, and wherever
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  Speaker 3: that is possible, that's what we are what we support,
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  Speaker 3: and countries will make decisions based on when they think
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  Speaker 3: those diplomatic efforts are no longer working and when threats
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  Speaker 3: are real. And in this case, the US had viewed
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  Speaker 3: that there was a real threat and that they needed
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  Speaker 3: to take action and self defense.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, so that GDP figure last week was kind of heartening.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think that we're through the worst of this recession?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, I think we were doing very well in
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  Speaker 3: the first three months of the year. For context, we
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  Speaker 3: doubled the growth rate that Treasury had forecast and we
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  Speaker 3: were at zero point eight whereas Australia was only at
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  Speaker 3: zero point two in the first three months of the year.
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  Speaker 3: So we were doing really well. That domestic recovery was underway.
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  Speaker 3: But I'm acutely conscious that as of April we had
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  Speaker 3: the US tariffs and that provides real headwinds to New
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  Speaker 3: Zealand's growth, And what you've seen since then is a
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  Speaker 3: downgrade in confidence in some other activity measures. So my
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  Speaker 3: message has been, actually, the fundamentals here are really good.
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  Speaker 3: The recovery has been underway, and the worst thing we
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  Speaker 3: can do now is all tuck up into our corners,
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  Speaker 3: put our heads down and not be confident. Actually, yep,
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  Speaker 3: the world's throwing stuff at us, but this is a
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  Speaker 3: good place to be doing business and we have every
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  Speaker 3: reason to keep invested.
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  Speaker 2: Is that what you're worried about it you worried about
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  Speaker 2: it lack a confidence that you're seeing.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I always worry that when international events are unfolding
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  Speaker 3: in the way that they are currently, that just creates
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  Speaker 3: uncertain very naturally, businesses look at that uncertainty and they say, well,
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure what that means, and then that in
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  Speaker 3: itself feeds into a lack of activity. I can't change
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  Speaker 3: that reality. Businesses will make their own decisions. But my
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  Speaker 3: message is the fundamentals in our economy relative to other
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  Speaker 3: economies in the world, are looking good. We've had stable inflation,
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  Speaker 3: interest rates have come down, we've got a pro growth,
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  Speaker 3: government investments coming in, Commodity prices are high. Those factors
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  Speaker 3: continue to be the case. We can't control what the
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  Speaker 3: world throws at us, but we can control what we
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  Speaker 3: do here at home.
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  Speaker 2: Do you worry about stagflation because I see asb is
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  Speaker 2: worried about it.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I do worry about the inflationary pressure that could
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  Speaker 3: occur if there was a spike in oil prices, and
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  Speaker 3: the challenges that would create for our economy. And I'm
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  Speaker 3: conscious that, as I said, our economic recovery is only
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  Speaker 3: just underway. But I am confident that the Reserve Bank
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  Speaker 3: still has a lot of room to make decisions in
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  Speaker 3: relation to inflation, and that we've got very sound for
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  Speaker 3: and economic management here. That means that we've got more
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  Speaker 3: buffers than some might around the world.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is kind of happening. Now, Have you got
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  Speaker 2: yourself across what ACT is trying to do making it
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  Speaker 2: easier for bosses to fire staff earning one hundred and
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  Speaker 2: eighty thousand dollars plus, Yes, I have.
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  Speaker 3: This is a bill that has been introduced as a
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  Speaker 3: consequence of our coalition agreement with the Act, and essentially
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  Speaker 3: what it proposes is an income threshold of one hundred
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  Speaker 3: and eighty k or more, above which you can only
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  Speaker 3: do a personal grievance if it's for discrimination or harassment
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  Speaker 3: or one of those grounds, but you can't lodge a
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  Speaker 3: personal grievance for unjustified dismissal. It's a change that has
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  Speaker 3: been reportedly pursued in Australia where apparently it's been quite
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  Speaker 3: effective at supporting open and frank conversations between what are
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  Speaker 3: highly paid senior employees.
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  Speaker 2: Are you okay with it? You guys going to support this?
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  Speaker 3: Are you well? It is obviously supported in that we're
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  Speaker 3: introducing the legislation that's a cabinet agreement to do that.
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  Speaker 3: We will, of course, as we always do, pay attention
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  Speaker 3: to the select committee process. But the intention here is
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  Speaker 3: to support businesses to be able to move on people
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  Speaker 3: who are standing in the way.
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  Speaker 2: Hold on. You guys and the ACT Party are the
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  Speaker 2: two parties that are the most about ambition in this country.
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  Speaker 2: Get yourself up, get yourself earning money, be rich, right,
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  Speaker 2: it's about It's about absolutely You guys are about celebrating
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  Speaker 2: people's success. So how come when people start to be successful,
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  Speaker 2: we go, I'll treat you differently, you can get fired
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  Speaker 2: more easily. How does that square off for you?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely? National as a party of aspiration. Part of that
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  Speaker 3: is about allowing employers to give workers a go and
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  Speaker 3: a high impact senior position.
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  Speaker 2: By five hourserned.
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  Speaker 3: No, but without being concerned that if it doesn't work out,
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  Speaker 3: there will be a very costly, very disruptive week.
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  Speaker 2: Give the nineteen day trial. What are you talking.
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  Speaker 3: About, Well, this is about promoting people into high impact
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  Speaker 3: positions and judging their performance. So our view is, yes,
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  Speaker 3: we want to see people reaching these senior roles. We
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  Speaker 3: want to see them performing well in these roles.
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  Speaker 2: Can I put it to you that for a party
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  Speaker 2: that's about ambition, you're going pretty hard, making it hard,
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  Speaker 2: making life a lot harder for people on one eighty
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  Speaker 2: plus than people who aren't. Right, you're taking benefits away
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  Speaker 2: from them, your income test, your means testing at one
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  Speaker 2: eighty and now you're saying people can get fired, And
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  Speaker 2: actually I would have thought those are the very people
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  Speaker 2: who need to be more sure of their jobs. Give
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  Speaker 2: thn that they're probably raising families at that level.
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  Speaker 3: Well, of course, most of those people can be very
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  Speaker 3: confident in their jobs. Actually, what this is about is
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  Speaker 3: them not being able to claim an unjustified dismissal as
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  Speaker 3: a personal grievance. It is a very very small group
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  Speaker 3: of people to whom that applies. If they are mistreated
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  Speaker 3: in their work because of discrimination or harassment, they still
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  Speaker 3: have all legal right to raise a personal grievance. And
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  Speaker 3: at the same time, many of these employees who are
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  Speaker 3: on those high wages are there because they have high
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  Speaker 3: degrees of skill and experience in a highly employable.
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  Speaker 2: All right, did you get the price that will carpet
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  Speaker 2: for us?
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  Speaker 1: No?
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  Speaker 3: I did not, But I have read the same reports
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  Speaker 3: that you have that it is a Breamworth manufacturer who's
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  Speaker 3: sealed that deal and it's going to lead to their factory,
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  Speaker 3: including an wang Anui operator.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, don't give me the spin. I hear
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  Speaker 2: your spin. I hear it coming at me.
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  Speaker 3: That's just the truth here.
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  Speaker 2: Are you going just be honest with me? Are you
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  Speaker 2: going to get me the price or not?
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  Speaker 3: I have double checked this, triple jets, this and every
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  Speaker 3: statement I have made has been verified, which is the
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  Speaker 3: price for the new contract is no more than they
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  Speaker 3: were paying for nylon that's a deal here that No.
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  Speaker 2: No, you can I want to know the price per
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  Speaker 2: square meter. I don't believe you.
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  Speaker 3: But did you know the price per square meter of
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  Speaker 3: the old contract? And can you.
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  Speaker 2: A sense?
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  Speaker 3: But you don't know all the terms and conditions of the.
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  Speaker 2: Contract the price.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I trust that in this instance that they can't. No, no, no,
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  Speaker 3: I'm not providing I'm not providing any evasion. I have
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  Speaker 3: absolutely scrutinized this. I've said, can I make the claim
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  Speaker 3: to all of the listeners to news Talks B you
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  Speaker 3: have at the price isn't actually resulting in a high price?
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  Speaker 3: And they've said absolutely. In fact, when you look at
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  Speaker 3: the overall retenders, they are coming in just a little
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  Speaker 3: bit cheaper.
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  Speaker 2: Oh nonsense, the contracts? Do you want to do? You
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  Speaker 2: want to come?
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  Speaker 3: I can only repeat to you the advice I've received.
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  Speaker 2: No, But the longer this goes on, looks you know that.
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  Speaker 3: No, I'm not going to get into the practice of
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  Speaker 3: revealing the commercial terms of private contracts. I believe, And
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  Speaker 3: have you one more chance.
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  Speaker 2: I'll give you one more chance, Nia, I'll ask you.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to keep giving you the benefit of the
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  Speaker 3: out too, which is that one day you're going to
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  Speaker 3: come around to the idea that a good contract that
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  Speaker 3: delivers wholesome, sustainable, healthy will to New Zealand houses and
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  Speaker 3: supports our sheep industry is just a good thing. There's
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  Speaker 3: no need to pick the eyes out of it. Thank you,
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  Speaker 3: just a happy day. Thank you here that.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate your time. As always, Nicola Willis, Finance Minister.
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