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Speaker 1: Right now, Barbara Edmonds, Barb who we've been looking for, Barb?

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Speaker 1: Where have you been all of our lives? So we've

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Speaker 1: been looking for Barbara Edmonds from Labour this afternoon because

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Speaker 1: we were meant to have it for an interview. And

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Speaker 1: then at five point thirty one, a fire alarm goes

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Speaker 1: off at Parliament. Okay, five point thirty seven we get

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Speaker 1: a call from Labour saying interview is canceled. You know,

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Speaker 1: she's not meant to be on until now, which is

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Speaker 1: after second interview is canceled fire alarm. Okay, that seems odd.

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Speaker 1: Can you not take a phone call?

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Speaker 2: You know?

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Speaker 1: Fire alarm was fifteen minutes ago? Anyway, whatever. Five forty

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Speaker 1: five pm we mentioned this on here. Five point fifty

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Speaker 1: four pm we mentioned it again, say definitely no, Barbara Edmunds.

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Speaker 1: We questioned the reason for this. Five fifty seven pm

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Speaker 1: another call from Labor. Barbara's back on. She's here now, Barbara.

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Speaker 1: Good evening, Hi.

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Speaker 2: Ryan, how's it going? You're good? Thanks, I'm here man,

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Speaker 2: I'm here.

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Speaker 1: For what I'm for you? What happened?

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Speaker 2: I think it was just because obviously left my phone,

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Speaker 2: you know, a fire alarm you just got get outside

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Speaker 2: so we just wanted to make sure that it was weird.

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Speaker 2: Just we didn't know how long we were going to

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Speaker 2: be outside. I've been here for ten years in Parliament,

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Speaker 2: the precinct duringut the prince sincts. The first time I've

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Speaker 2: ever had a fire drill during a housitting time. So

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Speaker 2: but I'm here, man, That's what matters.

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Speaker 1: No, I'm glad you're here. Do you know what? Always

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Speaker 1: take your phone with you because if you I've always thought,

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Speaker 1: you know, what is it next to you or in

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Speaker 1: your desk? You always take your phone because if your

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Speaker 1: family wants to get hold of you, then they need

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Speaker 1: to get hold of you. You know.

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Speaker 2: A's true, that's true. But you know I was in

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Speaker 2: a meeting. So my bad. But I'm here. I'm looking now.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you here. Now, this press release you

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Speaker 1: put out today about Nikola Willis attacking Nikola Willis, you

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Speaker 1: have said Nichola Willis continues to sit on her hands

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Speaker 1: amid glo a global economic crisis, which, first of all,

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Speaker 1: would we call this a global economic crisis? Yet?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think a lot of commentations are saying that

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Speaker 2: is a global economic crisis. With the retaliation parist that

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Speaker 2: might happen globally. For us, it's really if this is

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Speaker 2: going to happen offshore, what do you do as a government.

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Speaker 2: And we believe kind of her to saying we've got this,

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Speaker 2: we will hold our position. We don't think that that's enough.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So what exactly do you want her to do?

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Speaker 2: Well? A lot of going for growth initiatives are really

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Speaker 2: based on foreign interventions, for example, if foreign direct investment

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Speaker 2: or so tourism or so exports sector. We just want

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Speaker 2: to make sure that there's a balance about looking inwards

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Speaker 2: into New Zealand and taking a proper look at Actually, Okay,

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Speaker 2: if a third of our plan is not going to

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Speaker 2: be working to plan because there's going to be some

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Speaker 2: uncertainty in the global environment, what do we need to

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Speaker 2: do to look at here in New Zealand to ensure

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Speaker 2: that we are supporting both internally and the sectism internally

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Speaker 2: and maybe using it as an opportunity actually.

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Speaker 1: To do what exactly I mean this is all sounding

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Speaker 1: quite expensive, Barbara. The benefit obviously of foreign investment and

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Speaker 1: tourism is it someone else pays for it? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and we still you know, we still welcome that.

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Speaker 2: But you've also got to have a plan for what

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Speaker 2: happens internally, for example, if our exporters aren't able to

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Speaker 2: export the same amount that they're going to be able

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Speaker 2: to do, or there's going to be impossed in them,

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Speaker 2: or the far with the foreign exchange right with brown.

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Speaker 1: Dons, Barbara, at the point, we don't know that yet,

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Speaker 1: do we. I mean, it has been two hours since

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Speaker 1: the tariffs came into effect. We don't yet. And you

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Speaker 1: have used the words global economic crisis, but in the

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Speaker 1: real world it hasn't actually happened yet. So where would

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Speaker 1: you specifically recommend that she goes and piles money today?

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm pretty sure that our share markets and the

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Speaker 2: share markets off sure would say that something has happened,

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Speaker 2: given the trillion dollars was taken off, you know, for example,

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Speaker 2: the US markets. We're a lot of our our key

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Speaker 2: we say for our Superorannuation Fund where we have investments in.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely the stock market has felt the shock, no doubt.

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Speaker 1: But what exactly do you want her to do in

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Speaker 1: the real economy right now? Where do you want her

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Speaker 1: to spend this money?

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Speaker 2: Definitely on infrastructure. We've been saying that for the last year.

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Speaker 2: The government had paused canceled. A lot of infrastructure projects

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Speaker 2: have had their summit recently. This is the time for

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Speaker 2: them to really clearly signal and to get those projects underway,

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Speaker 2: because remember we've lost thirteen thousand construction sector jobs in

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Speaker 2: the last year. Those are the people that we basically

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Speaker 2: have trained up here in New Zealand using apprenticeship booths

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Speaker 2: other initiatives, that are now going offshore, particularly to Australia

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Speaker 2: to find work.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but that they're talking all the time about infrastructure

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Speaker 1: investments and they've had their summit. I mean they're asking

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Speaker 1: it for others to join them to pay for some

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Speaker 1: of it, but they're also stumping up for motorways and

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Speaker 1: the like.

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Speaker 2: And it's just right. It's talk, but you kind of

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Speaker 2: needed the action last year instead of putting the handbrake

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Speaker 2: on the.

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Speaker 1: Operating allowance that she's set two and a half billion.

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Speaker 1: Would you go with that or would you want it

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Speaker 1: to be highed? Do you think she should go for

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Speaker 1: a bit of a boost.

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Speaker 2: Well, we're going to see what's going to happen during

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Speaker 2: the budget. I mean the Treasury said last budget that

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Speaker 2: you need a minimum of two point five billion to

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Speaker 2: keep up with population growth and inflation, but they chose

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Speaker 2: the two point four and you've seen that they're really

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Speaker 2: pre committed a lot of that from last year's budget.

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Speaker 2: So you'd be having a good look at your operating

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Speaker 2: allowance and be able to say okay. She says to

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Speaker 2: that she feels comfortable with that. My question is, though,

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Speaker 2: do quees feel comfortable with that? Are they getting the

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Speaker 2: access to healthcare that they need? Are they able to

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Speaker 2: basically be able to do feel comfortable with that needs?

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Speaker 1: Would you would you go bigger?

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Speaker 2: I would need to look at books that she's getting

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Speaker 2: and she's getting the advice. We aren't. We're having to

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Speaker 2: get the information from from commentary and from you know,

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Speaker 2: we questioned the minister in the House and this yesterday.

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Speaker 1: They can't tell you.

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Speaker 2: We weren't able to get any information from him.

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Speaker 1: Feel they can't tell you before it happened, before they

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Speaker 1: do their pre budget release. But what about the forty

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Speaker 1: six percent of GDP that we're going to hit in

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Speaker 1: twenty six twenty seven? An acceptable for you in terms

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Speaker 1: of call net debt? What is an acceptable level?

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Speaker 2: Well, it's quite interesting the minister at that investment so much.

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Speaker 2: Nikole Willis, she said, we have low levels of debt.

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Speaker 2: So that's the first time I'd heard her say that publicly,

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Speaker 2: because all of the election campaign she's been talking about

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Speaker 2: high levels of debt. So obviously we don't want to

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Speaker 2: be over in debt because there is that structural deficit.

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Speaker 2: But you need to look at the long term view

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Speaker 2: as well and where that debt is being spent. And

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Speaker 2: as I've said before, infrastructure, if you're going to have

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Speaker 2: to borrow, you borrow it for infrastructure. Again, we're open

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Speaker 2: to that foreign We are open to that foreign investment

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Speaker 2: for the right assets.

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Speaker 1: But what's the acceptable number for you? How high would

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Speaker 1: you take it? Are you comfortable taking.

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Speaker 2: Up I'm not going to announce the Labor Party fiscal

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Speaker 2: plan today, but again we're going to be looking at

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Speaker 2: the numbers that come out of the budget, economic fiscal updates.

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Speaker 2: There's another monetary policy statement by the Reserve Bank and

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Speaker 2: may those numbers are going to be really key for

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Speaker 2: us as to where we land for our school plan.

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Speaker 1: Barbara, appreciate your time. Nice to have you on the phone. Finally,

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Speaker 1: Barbara Edmonds, Labour's finance spokesperson. For more from Hither Duplessy

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