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Speaker 1: And Nikola will as the finance ministers with US high Nicola, hi, Ever,

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Speaker 1: how are you feeling about the banks after they failed

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Speaker 1: to cut the fixed rates post ocr.

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Speaker 2: Well, my message to the banks is always the same,

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Speaker 2: which is pass on as much as you possibly can,

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Speaker 2: because it's good for the economy, and when the economy

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Speaker 2: does well, we all do well in your citizens in

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Speaker 2: this economy, and you should be doing your utmost to

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Speaker 2: support it.

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Speaker 1: Is this a bank's problem or is this the Reserve

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Speaker 1: Bank completely stuffing up their comms last week?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think that the banks always have a choice

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Speaker 2: about how much they pass on. Now. It is the

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Speaker 2: case that markets pricing some of these changes ahead of time,

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Speaker 2: and that was certainly the case ahead of last week's announcement,

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Speaker 2: that the markets had already priced in that there would

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Speaker 2: be a reduction, and many banks had already taken that

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Speaker 2: into account. But it is also the case that there

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Speaker 2: is a gap, often a lag between what the wholesale

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Speaker 2: rates are doing and then what commercial banks are passing

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Speaker 2: on a mortgage levels. I'd like to see them do

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Speaker 2: it faster and harder.

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Speaker 1: For example, Meghan has been texting for days now because

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Speaker 1: she's with A and Z and A and z's floating

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Speaker 1: range raid is coming down, A and Z's not dropping

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Speaker 1: its floating rates till Wednesday. Is that acceptable to you?

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Speaker 2: Well, they could do it sooner, couldn't they? And what

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Speaker 2: we typically see is there is this lag between the

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Speaker 2: wholesale rates coming down and the banks getting around to

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Speaker 2: pass it on to their mortgage holders. And I'd love

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Speaker 2: to see them pass it on faster.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, have you done everything that you plan to

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Speaker 1: do when it came to the banks or is there

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Speaker 1: have you got some more things up your sleeve?

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Speaker 2: Well, we are progressing a number of recommendations from the

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Speaker 2: Commerce Commission inquiry and now following up on the FEC inquiry.

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Speaker 2: So that's an ongoing work program.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but you got to keep going.

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Speaker 2: No, not necessarily, because there's a number of actions there

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Speaker 2: which require ongoing monitoring and ongoing activity.

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Speaker 1: Okay, because I mean, how has this changed from the

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Speaker 1: cozy pillow fight? Feels like a cozy pillow fight.

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Speaker 2: Well, remember, some of the things that we're doing haven't

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Speaker 2: come to fruition yet. So for example, Quevy Bank, we

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Speaker 2: are still looking to raise capital for Kwibank so it

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Speaker 2: can grow bigger and faster. In the future, and we

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Speaker 2: are still doing things like changing who can access the

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Speaker 2: word bank, making sure that a lower deposit is required

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Speaker 2: in order to set up a new bank, easing some

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Speaker 2: of the regulations which have prevented competitor banking banks from

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Speaker 2: entering the market. So some of those things are yet

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Speaker 2: to happen, but the work is underway to change it.

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Speaker 1: The reason I'm asking Nikola is because I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: been reasonably disappointing what's happened in since the last OCR hike,

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Speaker 1: the one last week. But I'm just thinking that this

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Speaker 1: is it, right, this is our lot, this is what

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Speaker 1: we need to accept. We need to basically go hard

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Speaker 1: with the banks ourselves. You're not coming to save us,

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Speaker 1: No one's coming to save us.

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Speaker 2: Well, what I've been really pleased to see is that

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Speaker 2: your friend Mike Hosking has come around to a point

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Speaker 2: of view I've had for some time, which is actually

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Speaker 2: the banks in New Zealand are very profitable and diet

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Speaker 2: seem to be passing as much. Okay, well, he has

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Speaker 2: said that he thinks they may have a point here. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: And my point straight back at the banks is actually

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Speaker 2: you need to maintain social license and you haven't done

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Speaker 2: a very good job of convincing New Zealanders that you're

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Speaker 2: doing your utmost to pass on rate reductions, to ensure

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Speaker 2: that you're being competitive, to compete for customers, offer them

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Speaker 2: good rates, and lend into this economy, particularly to small

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Speaker 2: businesses and others who rely on that cash flow to grow.

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Speaker 1: Are you being serious about possibly repealing the Regulatory Standards Act?

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, I'm serious. That National has not yet got

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Speaker 2: our position going into the campaign, and we will be

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Speaker 2: monitoring how that act works in practice carefully as you'd

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Speaker 2: expect that we should.

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Speaker 1: This is outrageous flirting with Winston, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: No, it's not as simply saying, let's see how it works.

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Speaker 2: We shouldn't have a closed mind on it and just

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Speaker 2: say no matter what evidence is, will just say it's perfect,

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Speaker 2: and we'll maintain a position that it needs to be maintained.

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Speaker 2: Let's see how it works in practice, let's keep an

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Speaker 2: open mind. If it does work well and reaches all

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Speaker 2: of the government's aspirations for it, then great ticketyboo, big

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Speaker 2: tick will continue. But if actually it doesn't deliver those outcomes,

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Speaker 2: then the National Caucus may want to take a position

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Speaker 2: that that's not a regime we want to get the name.

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Speaker 1: Are the piece of legislation that you've passed in the

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Speaker 1: last two years that you're considering repelling.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's the one that's top of mind, and there

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Speaker 2: may be others. The flirting with it.

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Speaker 1: Hey, so what do you reckon? Because you will have

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Speaker 1: seen what Penny Henade said about how he's been having

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Speaker 1: chats with winnipe on the side.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, ah yeah, I saw that.

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Speaker 1: I was so are you prepared, like, are you bracing

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Speaker 1: yourself for the fact that Winston's going to play the

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Speaker 1: two of you off against each other as in Labor

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Speaker 1: v National after the next selection.

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Speaker 2: Look, I just focus on what National can do to

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Speaker 2: put forward the best proposals to the New Zealand public

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Speaker 2: so we can win their votes. My position is always

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Speaker 2: the same. A vote for National is a much more

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Speaker 2: effective vote than a vote for New Zealand. First, always

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Speaker 2: has been, always will be.

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Speaker 1: Do you fly on a Monday?

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Speaker 2: I have done from time to time. I didn't this Monday.

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Speaker 1: Are you flying next Monday with when the Air New

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Speaker 1: Zealand cabin strike is on?

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Speaker 2: No, because that's a cabinet day.

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Speaker 1: Oh thank god, lucky you how are you feeling about

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Speaker 1: Air New Zealand at the moment as the shareholding minister.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think, like most New Zealanders, I want to

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Speaker 2: see them improving their performance wherever they can. And for me,

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Speaker 2: there's three kind of things they need to balance. On

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Speaker 2: the one hand, they need to make sure that they're

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Speaker 2: offering affordable flights to New Zealanders so they can see

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Speaker 2: their friends and family and enjoy this country. Two, they

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Speaker 2: need to be making sure they're getting a return on

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Speaker 2: capital that taxpayers have a big share of and so

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Speaker 2: they're driving profitability and productivity. And three they need to

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Speaker 2: be really good corporate citizens and support our economy to grow.

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Speaker 2: And there's no secret they have struggled in recent years

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Speaker 2: when it comes to their commercial performance.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not loving them at the moment. Now what

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Speaker 1: do you think of Roger Gray and him saying that

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Speaker 1: we're called now Zealand.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think he is on to something. If you

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Speaker 2: look across many of the issues that have held our

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Speaker 2: country back, it has been giving too many people veto

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Speaker 2: power to say no to sensible things, whether that's eden

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Speaker 2: park concerts, whether that's consens for new housing, whether that's

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Speaker 2: permission to start a new mind. Those are the things

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Speaker 2: that actually drive an economy forward and create wealth, and

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Speaker 2: New Zealand needs to get much better at saying yes

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Speaker 2: to them. It's even stuff like the people who moan

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Speaker 2: about tourists coming to New Zealand. Guess what those tourists

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Speaker 2: bring passion, They create jobs, they create incomes. So we

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Speaker 2: need to say yes more often.

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Speaker 1: So love it.

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Speaker 2: I like what he had to say.

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Speaker 1: Brilliant. Hey, thank you, Nicole. I appreciate it. Nichola Willis,

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Speaker 1: Finance Minister.

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Speaker 2: For more from Heather duplessy Ellen Drive, listen live to

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Speaker 2: news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio