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Speaker 1: Right now, it is seven minutes past six and some

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Speaker 1: of the country's major business leaders have had the essay.

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Speaker 1: In the New Zealand Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey,

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Speaker 1: the main domestic concerns are the price and supply of energy.

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Speaker 1: Don't worry, no one's suggesting nuclear here just yet, the

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Speaker 1: cost of living, high interest rates, emerging cyber threats and

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Speaker 1: rising insurance costs. Most are confident in Finance Minister Nichola

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Speaker 1: Willis's handling of the economy and in Education Minister Erica Stanford,

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Speaker 1: who came out top of the pops, the top performer

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Speaker 1: out of cabinet so far. Finance Minister Nichola Willis is

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Speaker 1: with us this evening. Killed he would you say, overall

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Speaker 1: pretty decent results.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I think it's good to see that business

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Speaker 2: shares the government's optimism that we're turning a corner on

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Speaker 2: the economy, that we are seeing green shoots, and they're

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Speaker 2: focused on the same things we are, which is, let's

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Speaker 2: get growth happening, investments, new jobs, more innovation, more exporting.

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Speaker 2: So we're on the same page.

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Speaker 1: How long do you think it takes for that optimism

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Speaker 1: to trickle through to other parts of the economy that

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Speaker 1: are maybe still a bit gloomy.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think as we see interest rates falling, we

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Speaker 2: will see that spread through the regions and through a

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Speaker 2: number of different sectors. You are seeing the optimism scores

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Speaker 2: and the business confidence surveys increasing pretty dramatically already, but

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Speaker 2: unrealistic if you're a small business in some parts of

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Speaker 2: the country, if you're in one of the regions that's

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Speaker 2: been badly affected by a mill closure, you're not feeling

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Speaker 2: it yet, so it will take some time for the

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Speaker 2: chair to spread.

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Speaker 1: What was the message that you got today when it

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Speaker 1: comes to energy prices.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's clear that this is a major concern for business,

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Speaker 2: and I agree with them. Having affordable, low carbon sources

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Speaker 2: of electricity electricity is going to be critical to New

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Speaker 2: Zealand's future. We're doing our bit with the fast track

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Speaker 2: consenting regimes that we think will allow a lot more

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Speaker 2: renewable generation projects to come on faster that solar, that's wind,

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Speaker 2: potentially geothermal. We're going to need that because the world

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Speaker 2: is now competing for affordable electricity and New Zealand wants

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Speaker 2: to be in that race.

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Speaker 1: Have any of those business leaders expressed to you that

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Speaker 1: they want to see the gen Taylor's supply and retail

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Speaker 1: arms split up.

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Speaker 2: I haven't had that expressed to me directly by any

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Speaker 2: of the leaders in that room. I think what people

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Speaker 2: are conscious of is the need for competition and the

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Speaker 2: need for structures that incentivize investment in generation. We had

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Speaker 2: seen since we were elected a lot more projects being

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Speaker 2: committed to by the generators, which is positive to see,

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Speaker 2: and we are, as we said previously, monitoring that market

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Speaker 2: because it's really important that it functions effectively for the

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Speaker 2: New Zealanders.

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Speaker 1: So you came third in the minister performances, it's really good.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is. I'm one of those people who always

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Speaker 2: aims to be the best I can be, so I'll

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Speaker 2: always want to do better. But genuinely delighted to see

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Speaker 2: my colleague Eric Danford top the pots because her work

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Speaker 2: and education is so foundational for the country's future economically

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Speaker 2: and socially. And to see business leaders reflecting what a

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Speaker 2: great job she's doing look good to see.

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Speaker 1: Do cabinet ministers take this stuff at all seriously?

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Speaker 2: Well, we're constantly being judged just by the boardroom, but

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Speaker 2: by our communities, by the people we serve. By our neighbors,

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Speaker 2: our colleagues, our party members, and so this is part

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Speaker 2: of the course. This is one audience that's certainly not

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Speaker 2: the only audience, and ultimately New Zealand voters give us

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Speaker 2: the score out of five when they vote in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six.

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Speaker 1: Talk to us a bit more than about the conversation

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Speaker 1: that you're looking to start with Barbara Edmonds when it

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Speaker 1: comes to superannuation.

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Speaker 2: Well, look, Barbara set out the big challenges she sees

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Speaker 2: the New Zealand and twenty fifty so many decades from now,

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Speaker 2: and when we have that conversation, it's really clear that

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Speaker 2: demographically we are going to be an older population with

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Speaker 2: fewer working people. That raises real questions about the ongoing

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Speaker 2: sustainability of our superannuation scheme. And at the last election,

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Speaker 2: the National Party wanted to have a conversation about that.

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Speaker 2: How do we keep the scheme sustainable with people living longer,

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Speaker 2: healthier lives. Should we be raising that age and that's

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Speaker 2: what we campaigned on. So our challenged Barbara. I said, well,

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Speaker 2: if you're up to tough conversations, let's talk about super

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Speaker 2: and I was really pleased. She said, yeah, I'll take

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Speaker 2: you up on that challenge, has that conversation.

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Speaker 1: What kind of changes would that theoretically mean. I know

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Speaker 1: that you guys have had differing positions in terms of campaigning,

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Speaker 1: but it's not always the sort of left versus right issue,

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Speaker 1: not necessarily anyway.

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Speaker 2: No, I don't see it that way. Certainly the current

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Speaker 2: government maybe be clear. Jack has the position that we

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Speaker 2: won't be raising the age of superannuation. That's a core

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Speaker 2: coalition commitment with New Zealand first, which I respect. But

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Speaker 2: as Finance spokesperson for the National Party and with four

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Speaker 2: kids of my own, when I look ahead to New

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Speaker 2: Zealand's future, I want our super scheme to be sustainable,

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Speaker 2: for people to be clear about what the entitlements will

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Speaker 2: be down the track, and I can see that the

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Speaker 2: bill is going to become really really disproportionate to the

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Speaker 2: other areas we want to invest in, whether that's education,

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Speaker 2: health for others, and to me, raising the age is

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Speaker 2: a simple step we could take to make it more affordable.

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Speaker 2: But as I said, I'm genuinely up for the conversation

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Speaker 2: with Barbara and what other other ideas she may want

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Speaker 2: to contribute to the table.

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Speaker 1: Having the perspective that you have in this role and

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Speaker 1: having your eyes over the detail, over the numbers. Do

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Speaker 1: you think it is feasible that people who are your

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Speaker 1: kids age now will be able to retire with something

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Speaker 1: akin to superannuation as we have today when they're sixty five.

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Speaker 2: I think it'll be something akin to it, But I

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Speaker 2: think there have to be changes between now and when

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Speaker 2: my kids are sixty five.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for your tom. That's Finance Minister Nikola Willis, just

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Speaker 1: so you know. In the last few minutes, the Associate

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Speaker 1: Health Minister Casey Costello has released her tendant advice on

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Speaker 1: heated tobacco products. I'm going to end you what that advice.

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Speaker 1: I'll explain to you what that advice entails. Advice entails

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Speaker 1: in a few minutes. Next up, though Enzied Herald This

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Speaker 1: editor at large Liam Dan here with his takes from

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Speaker 1: this morning's mood of the boardroom. It's quarter past six.

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Speaker 1: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to

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Speaker 1: news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio.