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Speaker 1: Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Christopher Luxe well us, very good

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Speaker 1: morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Morning.

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Speaker 1: Mike brad Olsen's done some numbers on the amount of

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Speaker 1: productivity lost when we close the Harbor Bridge because it's blowy,

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Speaker 1: and he points out that there are still people being

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Speaker 1: paid seventy five thousand dollars a week to work on

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Speaker 1: an option to replace or replicate the bridge. Is that true?

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Speaker 2: I'm not aware of that. I know Samon Brown's talked

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Speaker 2: about a second crossing, which is important, but it's part

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Speaker 2: of our broader infrastructure thematic, which is the saying, look,

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Speaker 2: you know, you get massive productivity gains out of actually

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Speaker 2: building stuff and getting roads built, and that's a good thing.

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Speaker 2: So yep, I understand the bridge is at capacity. Yes,

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Speaker 2: we have to get a replacement in place, whether it's

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Speaker 2: another bridge, where it's another tunnel. You know, those are

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Speaker 2: options that I know something's got on this plan to

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Speaker 2: look through.

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Speaker 1: Would it bother you if you're paying seventy five thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars a week to people looking into this.

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Speaker 2: It's not something I'm aware of. But nothing surprising me

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Speaker 2: in government as to what people have been working on

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Speaker 2: and what they still continue to work on. So we

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Speaker 2: are working very hard to keep everyone very focused, but

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Speaker 2: I'm just not aware of that, Mike. To be honest,

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Speaker 2: I can't comment in more.

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Speaker 1: Dot com report that's out at eight thirty this morning

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Speaker 1: on banking. Have you seen it.

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Speaker 2: I've got a sense of some of the highlights on it.

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Speaker 2: But our point is, as you know from before, is

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Speaker 2: that we want to see much more composition in the

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Speaker 2: backing market. There's high levels of profitability. I think, you know.

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Speaker 2: I'm hoping there'll be some good things out of there,

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Speaker 2: that we've got some good actions up and running in

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Speaker 2: a way around. But obviously Nikola and Andrew Bailey and

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Speaker 2: we'll talk more to that later on when it's really available.

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Speaker 1: So just give us the sense of this. Have they

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Speaker 1: said what you thought? I mean, I'm assuming they're saying

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Speaker 1: basically what they said in the preparatory report. Will you

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Speaker 1: be doing something about it?

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Speaker 2: Yes? Absolutely, I mean, as you know, we've been wanting

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Speaker 2: to see this Commerce Commission report come back. As I

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Speaker 2: understand it, I haven't read the report. It's about three

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Speaker 2: hundred and ninety pages. I think at this point, I

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Speaker 2: know Nikola has and has got a good sense of

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Speaker 2: what we need to do. And what we can respond

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Speaker 2: to immediately round it actually, which is important. But she'll

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Speaker 2: talk to that. And then also we've got our Select

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Speaker 2: Committee inquiries at the Finance and Expenditure Committee and also

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Speaker 2: the Rural Communities Rural CERI Committee as well, because we

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Speaker 2: are concerned about banking in the rural sector as much

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Speaker 2: as across the board. So look, there's major challenges in

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Speaker 2: the competition in the market, there's high levels of profitability,

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Speaker 2: and we want to make sure it's a much better

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Speaker 2: functioning banking sector. And we're quite serious about it, and

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Speaker 2: I think everyone understands how serious we are about it.

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Speaker 1: In a year's time, will you be able to materially

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Speaker 1: show me a different banking marketplace in this country as

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Speaker 1: a result of your actions, Well, I will.

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Speaker 2: Hope we will have put some serious interventions in place

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Speaker 2: that will be leading to that. As to whether individual

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Speaker 2: firms want to know more banking products are available, more

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Speaker 2: fintech products are available, what innovations available, more open banking,

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Speaker 2: all of those good things are happening. We want to

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Speaker 2: be well on the track to making sure that's exactly

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Speaker 2: the case. So I just can't underscore that, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm very serious about the banking sector. I happening for

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Speaker 2: a long time, concerned about it. I know Nicola is

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Speaker 2: the same, and we're looking at the Commerce Commission will

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Speaker 2: look at our inquiries and we'll do whatever when we

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Speaker 2: need to do.

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Speaker 1: Well Nikola talk about qu bank and it's shape and

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Speaker 1: form today.

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Speaker 2: Well she might well talk to that, But again there's

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Speaker 2: three hundred ninety pages and I'll let her go through

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Speaker 2: the recommendations and what we are responding to. A lot

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Speaker 2: of it. You know, there's a lot of legatory stuff

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Speaker 2: that's got on the way. There's a you know, there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of open bankings andthing we've talked about for

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Speaker 2: a long time, but there's no real progress on that.

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Speaker 2: You know, that's the ability for people to move banks

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Speaker 2: when there's more competition, and that you know, people don't move.

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Speaker 2: They're pretty in nurse and they get locked into their

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Speaker 2: banks and don't seem to do that. So what else

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Speaker 2: twinies do to encourage that competition. But again, I'll let

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Speaker 2: her talk to that later on and stuff and then

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Speaker 2: have you.

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Speaker 1: And we've seen Westpact just yesterday, and we've seen a

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Speaker 1: couple of banks in the last week, and we've seen

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Speaker 1: the Reserve Bank Act. Have you gotten to the bottom

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Speaker 1: in your mind of why the Australian Bank has a

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Speaker 1: profit margin in the ones and the New Zealand Bank.

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Speaker 1: In other words, the New Zealand branch of the Australian

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Speaker 1: Bank has a profit margin in the twos. And they

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Speaker 1: argue it's all on It's all all on Adrian or

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Speaker 1: he says it isn't do you or not?

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Speaker 2: I don't, But that is what I'm concerned about, and

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Speaker 2: that's what I've been concerned about for some time. It's

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Speaker 2: the relative profitability at a per capital level. If I

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Speaker 2: look at the relative profitability of the banks in New

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Speaker 2: Zealand compared to other markets, I think we've got a problem.

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Speaker 2: And it doesn't know And yes we want strong banks

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Speaker 2: from recessionary times, but continued record profits is something that

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Speaker 2: and lack of competition is a serious problem. So you know,

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Speaker 2: let's see where we get to with the Commerce Commission today.

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Speaker 2: We'll then got to that'll and form a lot of

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Speaker 2: where the questioning goes, and the sleek committees that will

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Speaker 2: then drive a lot more of the action and plan

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Speaker 2: that we've got to make sure we get a much

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Speaker 2: more competitive, dynamic banking sector. But yes, that's exactly like.

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Speaker 2: That's one of the problems I've observed is you know,

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Speaker 2: the subsidiaries of Australian banks and they seem to have

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Speaker 2: high margins.

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Speaker 1: Correct, despite the shocking misrepresentation of the polling numbers last

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Speaker 1: night on the State broadcaster, there are thirty seven percent

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Speaker 1: of people in this country who don't think your race

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Speaker 1: relations policy is making any difference at all. Ten percent

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Speaker 1: think they're improving it. So forty seven plays forty six.

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Speaker 1: Does that reassure you as you sat in the rain

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Speaker 1: yesterday being yelled at that maybe things you might.

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Speaker 3: Be on the right track anyway, Well, look, I got

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Speaker 3: to say that that poll was no different from what

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Speaker 3: I saw a year or so ago under the previous

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Speaker 3: administration as well. So the bottom line, and I'm trying

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Speaker 3: to communicate very strongly and actually EWE leaders when I

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Speaker 3: meet with them individually understand this is that I'm more

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Speaker 3: interested and actually, what are we going to do about

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Speaker 3: the outcomes for Maori and non Malori kids. I mean,

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Speaker 3: when you look at housing, when you.

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Speaker 2: Look at education, when you look at healthcare, and when

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Speaker 2: you look at incomes, you know, all of those conversations

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Speaker 2: are what we need to do. You know, when twelve

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Speaker 2: percent of Maori kids at the sender they need to

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Speaker 2: be at at the benchmark going into high school on mathematics,

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Speaker 2: we've got a problem, you know, when we've got a

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Speaker 2: distribush number of Maori families and emergency housing and yet

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Speaker 2: we're thankfully we've moved a thousand kids out of emergency

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Speaker 2: housing between April and July into a proper home because

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Speaker 2: they shouldn't be growing up on which I that's a

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Speaker 2: good stuff. That's improving outcomes when we're working on immunization

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Speaker 2: rates Rounder two with Mary, you know, that's that's what

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Speaker 2: it's about. So I'm focused on outcomes, and you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm over the you know, I don't think the last

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Speaker 2: six years was a fantastic time for Mary frankly, and

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Speaker 2: the results.

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Speaker 1: That we're under and looking at what you were getting

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Speaker 1: yelled at yesterday, I look at to who You've thrown

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Speaker 1: them under the bus and you've run them over, And

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself, even if he feels that way,

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Speaker 1: what's what's the point of that exchange? Where's that going?

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm less hung on one it. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 2: it's important for me that we continue to engage, We

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Speaker 2: can be respectful, we can agree.

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Speaker 1: Is yelling at you in the rain engaging or is

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Speaker 1: it just yelling at you and the rain?

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Speaker 2: Well, look, if it helps everyone feel better, that's great.

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Speaker 2: I'm just all about making sure that we keep the

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Speaker 2: joint on track and we get it sorted. And I

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Speaker 2: just say, you know, a lot of the conversations I

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Speaker 2: have with ere leaders are actually at that next level

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Speaker 2: of actually, well, what are we going to do about housing?

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Speaker 2: And what are we doing about infrastructure? What are we

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Speaker 2: doing about health and education? So you know that's where

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Speaker 2: you know the conversation go on my private conversations with

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Speaker 2: many of them. Yep, there's frustration on the treaty principles.

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Speaker 2: Bell get that. I think you know, we've been very

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Speaker 2: clear about our relative positions on all of that. But

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Speaker 2: the real focus is, you know, when eighty eight percent

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Speaker 2: of kids are not willingly to be on maths and mighty,

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Speaker 2: that's a problem.

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Speaker 1: When frankly, that trip to Sydney last week and the

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Speaker 1: big metro station opened yesterday, years overdue and billions of

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Speaker 1: dollars over mudget, what did you actually learn about building

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Speaker 1: stuff that we don't already know?

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Speaker 2: In the country. Yeah, well we don't do it in

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Speaker 2: a very system. One of the big things, to be honest,

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Speaker 2: is in New South Wales. Might be at the premiere

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Speaker 2: there in twenty fourteen put in place something called Infrastructure

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Speaker 2: New South Wales and essentially what they do is they

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Speaker 2: have a bunch of people who go through and they

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Speaker 2: build out a proper thirty year pipeline, which is what

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Speaker 2: Chris Bishop and I've been talking about. But importantly they

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Speaker 2: then can prioritize those projects so if there is and

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Speaker 2: then the benefit of that is that when the political

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Speaker 2: cycles change, you're not in the ridiculous situation that we've

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Speaker 2: been in New Zealand, where you take a road people

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Speaker 2: is Cambridge to Piety and it's like on off on off,

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Speaker 2: on off, on off. Actually it's happening. The project happens.

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Speaker 2: It's a priority, and they're clear about the relative priority.

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Speaker 2: If there's more money available in the system, they know

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Speaker 2: what their next funding. If there's less money in the system,

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Speaker 2: they know what they have to defund and reprioritize. But

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Speaker 2: the idea is the politics are taken out of infrastructure

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Speaker 2: development and infrastructure's long term and I would love to

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Speaker 2: see that in New Zealand and with our short political

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Speaker 2: cycles and local government central government, the reality is you

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Speaker 2: need to have some of their mechanism and governance around that.

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Speaker 2: And that has worked really, really well, and so they

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Speaker 2: know what they're rolling into in the next fifteen to

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Speaker 2: twenty projects across the state, having done a bunch over

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Speaker 2: the last ten years or so as well. So yeah,

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Speaker 2: that was really good. I took Shane Jones, I took

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Speaker 2: Chris Bisher, I took some in Brown. I also sat

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Speaker 2: down with investors, hosted an investor lunch as I always do.

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Speaker 2: You know Australian super funds and other funds that want

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Speaker 2: to spend billions of dollars and ideally in New Zealand.

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Speaker 2: I want that money coming into the country. And we

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Speaker 2: talk about the frustrations that they have, the good, the

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Speaker 2: bad and the ugly of investing in New Zealand and

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Speaker 2: what either stops them or what other impediments are encountering.

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Speaker 2: And so you know, all of that was good for

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Speaker 2: my infrastructure ministers to get a feel of get out

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Speaker 2: of the bubble of New Zealand, see what good looks

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Speaker 2: like somewhere else in the world, and can we learn

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Speaker 2: from it. And apply it back home good stuff.

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Speaker 1: Appreciate your time seeing ex Tuesday Christopher luxam Prime Minister.

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Speaker 3: For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast Listen live to

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Speaker 3: news talks there'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 3: the podcast on iHeartRadio