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Speaker 1: The Prime Minister's Say of the Nation's speech today was

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Speaker 1: at the new International Convention Center. No new policy announced,

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Speaker 1: no election date yet, but he is talking up the

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Speaker 1: economic recovery this year and he did that over the

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Speaker 1: course of about half an hour his speech. Simon Bridges

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Speaker 1: the Aukland Business Chamber bosses with us now. Simon, good evening,

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Speaker 1: Hey Ryan, Happy new year, Happy new year. Good to

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Speaker 1: have you on the show. How is it received, How

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Speaker 1: it was a business community listening? How did it go down? Well?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think very well, and you'd expect that from

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Speaker 2: that crowd. I think, you know, really good speech, really

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Speaker 2: well delivered, and a good sort of defense summation argument

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Speaker 2: of the last two years. If you're like, you know,

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Speaker 2: they've got the basics right. They've done a lot there

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Speaker 2: in law and order, a lot in education. He went

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Speaker 2: through that public public sector reforms, some big stuff happening.

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Speaker 2: Can we save a reform it's chunky NCA reform, that's

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Speaker 2: chunky RMA reform, that's chuck trunky. I think in terms

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Speaker 2: of constructive criticism, I think some of the things I

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Speaker 2: sort of heard and you know, I'm seeing potentially Prime

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Speaker 2: Minister is still storing up controversies for another day. You know,

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Speaker 2: where is he going to be exactly on that housing

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Speaker 2: intensification stuff in Auckland, the two million house and more houses.

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Speaker 2: Foreign policy really good at a high level, not there

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Speaker 2: on the crunchy specifics, I think, I think a lot

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Speaker 2: hinges on the economy continuing to go very well. I

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Speaker 2: mean you've just made that point. But higher echelon's a

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Speaker 2: business I think at a level can see it and

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Speaker 2: feel it. But if you're the struggling middle saying in Auckland,

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Speaker 2: you know there wasn't a lot there, you'd say, oh, well,

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Speaker 2: that's what's coming and that's what's there for me, and

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Speaker 2: and I think beyond that, just you know, look, would

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Speaker 2: have been nice to see a bit more vision, let alone,

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Speaker 2: a bit more plan for not just sort of here

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Speaker 2: and now, but for if there's another term, what that's

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Speaker 2: going to look like. I think that's what the business community,

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Speaker 2: the struggling middle actually New Zualanders would have watch.

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Speaker 1: See. I know you're trying to be polite, Simon, but

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Speaker 1: you just gave us more in the constructive criticism category

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Speaker 1: than you did in the praise. And I think that's

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Speaker 1: quite how.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think, look, it was a strong speech.

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Speaker 2: I think, as I say, strong on the last couple

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Speaker 2: of years. And you know, in a coalition environment, we

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Speaker 2: talked about that. I asked Hm about that MMP. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's the system we've got not easy. Frankly, he's got

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Speaker 2: his mates on either side of him. We have different views,

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Speaker 2: but actually they've achieved some stuff, right, And I think

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Speaker 2: he laid that out very well. You know, he's made

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Speaker 2: clear he's ambitious around the economy. I'm just I suppose

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Speaker 2: all of the things I said in terms of that

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Speaker 2: constructive criticism to keep it interesting, lively and give a

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Speaker 2: sense of what I think more we'd like to see

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Speaker 2: is we want to see some more coming. We want

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Speaker 2: to see a pipeline of you know, of strong, detailed

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Speaker 2: work to give us to give us even more hope.

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Speaker 2: You know, we see the indicators on the economy, but

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Speaker 2: to give us even here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the problem he's got is a lot of the stuff,

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Speaker 1: it's back room stuff that they're like, it's important stuff,

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Speaker 1: you know, RM, the chunky stuff. It's like remodeling a house.

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Speaker 1: You do the inside. No one walking down the street

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Speaker 1: can see what you're doing on the inside of the house, right,

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Speaker 1: it's not until you paint the outside and we go, oh,

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Speaker 1: that's nice, but actually there's important things happening under the hood.

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Speaker 2: I think that's right, and I look at a level.

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Speaker 2: I put that to him. I think, you know, again,

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Speaker 2: you say, last two years, you can see these long

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Speaker 2: term things. Can we save a Hey, that's going to

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Speaker 2: be good for New Zealand over what you know, thirty

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Speaker 2: forty years, NCAA reform good over twenty thirty years, RMA

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Speaker 2: reform the same. But you know, in the here and now, like,

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Speaker 2: what's what's over the next two years, what's over the

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Speaker 2: next three years? What are you doing right now? That's

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Speaker 2: where I just think, you know, we're I'm sure we'll

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Speaker 2: see more over the year, as you know, election year unfolds,

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Speaker 2: but they're just preps. Wasn't quite enough of that to

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Speaker 2: get us really excited.

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Speaker 1: So Iman, do you know what I think people want

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Speaker 1: to see from him? I think they want to see

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Speaker 1: just him do something bold and different and surprise us.

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Speaker 1: You know, I think if there's a criticism of this

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Speaker 1: government except there's sort of over promise and maybe under deliver.

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Speaker 1: So let's you know, under promise and over deliver. I

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Speaker 1: think they should do do an election and do it soon.

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Speaker 1: What do you reckon? Oh no, I.

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Speaker 2: Think you know, well, it's an interesting theory. I can't

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Speaker 2: see that myself. You know, if it comes out and

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Speaker 2: it's sort of I don't know, twenty first of journe

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Speaker 2: or something, I'll be very surprised. But maybe you had

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Speaker 2: that you were right there. I mean that they want

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Speaker 2: to see the economy continuing to prove look short of

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Speaker 2: you know, a bunch of international things, which by the way,

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Speaker 2: could happen short of that, that's that's likely. They want

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Speaker 2: to see. They've got the convention Center open, they want

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Speaker 2: to see the CRL open. They want to see some

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Speaker 2: of those things. So I can see the logic for that.

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Speaker 2: I mean, to your point around the promise. In the end,

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Speaker 2: let's let's remember what this guy is. He's a very

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Speaker 2: successful business leader. What's that about. That's about being predictable,

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Speaker 2: that's about kind of some of that stuff. I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, I as you as you and I both know.

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Speaker 2: I've always been a bit more on the let slap

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Speaker 2: some red meat out on the table, and I've said

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Speaker 2: to you, you know, I'm not sure we've we quite

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Speaker 2: saw that. No, but on the barbecue. But you know,

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Speaker 2: I do think I think we'll see policy development over

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Speaker 2: the course of the year. I mean this Auckland housing

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Speaker 2: intens as VACA and stuff's coming and plenty more must

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Speaker 2: be us.

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Speaker 1: A bit of a you turn, coming and coming. I

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Speaker 1: appreciate that, Simon Bridge's former labor leader current boss of

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Speaker 1: the Auckland Business Chamber.

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