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Speaker 1: Now Nicola will as Finance Minister is with us. Hello Nicola, Hi, Heather,

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Speaker 1: Well the old one PM's but triggering for us, wasn't it?

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Speaker 2: Rest assured there's going to be no return of the

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Speaker 2: Podium of Truth. But we will provide timely updates on

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Speaker 2: our economic response to the events in Iran, as you'd

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Speaker 2: expect us to do.

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Speaker 1: Have we had a change in how many days worth

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Speaker 1: of oil fuel we've got in the country.

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Speaker 2: We'll provide another update on Wednesday. As of our last update,

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Speaker 2: we knew that we had fifty seven days of petrol,

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Speaker 2: including thirty days in the country and a bit less

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Speaker 2: for diesel and jet fuel. That's both fuel and storage,

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Speaker 2: but also fuel on the way here in ships. We've

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Speaker 2: not been advised of any disruption in future orders at

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Speaker 2: this stage, So what we're preparing for is a potential

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Speaker 2: circumstance in the future when fuel companies could have difficulties

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Speaker 2: securing future orders. So that's some ways away.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now I heard you saying May is the possible

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Speaker 1: crunch time for us. Why is that.

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Speaker 2: Because when we're talking to fuel companies they have a

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Speaker 2: range of forward orders. But it's when you start looking

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Speaker 2: out a few weeks from now, that they haven't necessarily

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Speaker 2: got all of their orders confirmed out into the future.

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Speaker 2: Just like every business, they do some of their ordering

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Speaker 2: in advance, but not all of it, and it's when

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Speaker 2: they get out over the horizon that they need to

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Speaker 2: make sure they can secure those orders. And we'll have

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Speaker 2: more information about how that's going from them in the

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Speaker 2: coming weeks.

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Speaker 1: Have any of their order requests been declined.

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Speaker 2: Not that I'm aware of, But everyone is planning a

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Speaker 2: head here, which is that we know that the oil

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Speaker 2: refineries that we get our fuel from a predominantly in Asia,

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Speaker 2: South Korea and Singapore being the main places we get

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Speaker 2: fuel from. We know those places depend on crude oil

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Speaker 2: that comes from the Middle East. So it's foreseeable that

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Speaker 2: some of those refineries may have challenges getting supply and

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Speaker 2: therefore that they could have challenges fulfilling orders in the future. Obviously,

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Speaker 2: in the first instance, fuel companies would work to find

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Speaker 2: alternative sources of refined fuel. It's also the case that

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Speaker 2: those refineries in Asia would also look for alternative sources

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Speaker 2: for crude oil. So there's quite a few steps to

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Speaker 2: happen within the market before you get to a situation

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Speaker 2: where orders can't be fulfilled, but it's completely appropriate and

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Speaker 2: prudent and responsible for us to be envisaging those scenarios

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Speaker 2: and getting ready for them.

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Speaker 1: Now yeah, okay, Now on Myles Hrral, have you talked

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Speaker 1: to him about his resignation just yet?

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Speaker 2: I haven't had a chance to speak to him today,

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Speaker 2: and when I do, I'll just wish him all the

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Speaker 2: best for the future. He was a great boss to

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Speaker 2: me when I worked at Fonterra. He gave me a

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Speaker 2: significant promotion, He backed me. He was one of those

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Speaker 2: leaders who had come from the ground up through that business,

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Speaker 2: worked really hard and knew how to lead people, saw

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Speaker 2: the best in people and brought it out in them.

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Speaker 2: Common sense, practical, got things done.

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Speaker 1: Are you see? I mean, do you think that this

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Speaker 1: reaction to him witting today from your mate Winston is

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Speaker 1: a bit weird?

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Speaker 2: Well, I'll leave Winston to Winston. But what I'd say

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Speaker 2: is that when Miles offered me an extraordinary new role

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Speaker 2: when I was on maternity leave with my fourth child,

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Speaker 2: and I said to them, all, well, Miles, that role

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Speaker 2: sounds really complicated. Managing waste management and farms. These are

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Speaker 2: things I've never done before. And you're sure I could

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Speaker 2: do it. Miles said to me, Nichola, interesting that you

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Speaker 2: say that. If you're a man, you'd be saying how

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Speaker 2: big is the pay rise? And he just backed me

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Speaker 2: and put his confidence in me. And I learned a

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Speaker 2: lot from him. So you're only going to hear nice

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Speaker 2: things about him from me today.

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Speaker 1: O Get on the farm stuff. Why did you, guys

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Speaker 1: you turn on the idea of lifting the live animals

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Speaker 1: export band?

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Speaker 2: Well, we always said that we would only advance that

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Speaker 2: if we thought we could meet a gold standard and

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Speaker 2: animal welfare, and the ultimate judgment we made was that

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Speaker 2: we couldn't and so National will not be taking that

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Speaker 2: policy forward.

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Speaker 1: But it was a National Party decision, no one else's.

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Speaker 2: Well, obviously we agreed that with our coalition partners that

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Speaker 2: we wouldn't be progressing that as a government.

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Speaker 1: Thomas Coglin's written his piece on Saturday saying it was

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Speaker 1: a National Party decision.

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Speaker 2: Well, National was very clear that it didn't meet our test.

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Speaker 1: And he said it was because Erica said that the

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Speaker 1: townees don't like it.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think that that's incorrect. The National Party formed

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Speaker 2: of view that we didn't think that New Zealanders were

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Speaker 2: happy with it and that we couldn't answer their fair questions.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, we did listen. He's right to say that

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Speaker 2: that we listened to New Zealanders who had concerns, we

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Speaker 2: prosecuted those concerns, and ultimately we couldn't satisfy ourselves that

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Speaker 2: it should progress.

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Speaker 1: I mean that does suck a little bit for farmers,

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Speaker 1: doesn't it, Because if it's about what towneyes think about

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Speaker 1: what happens on the farm, they're going to lose every

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Speaker 1: time because there are more towneyes than farmers.

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Speaker 2: It's bigger than that though. It's also about New Zealand's

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Speaker 2: international reputation as being a beacon for animal welfare standards,

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Speaker 2: and we think that reputation is important to farmers and

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Speaker 2: towneys alike.

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Speaker 1: Isn't that about three hundred million dollars that we're just

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Speaker 1: forfeiting that's being taken up by the Australians to the

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Speaker 1: American market.

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Speaker 2: Well, that number is actually contingent on how big an

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Speaker 2: industry would actually be able to be created if you

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Speaker 2: were setting really really stringent standards, and how much of

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Speaker 2: that industry would have come back was something that there

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Speaker 2: were a range of questions about as well.

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Speaker 1: Is it possibly back on the agenda if you win

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Speaker 1: the election, No, so national will never support it.

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Speaker 2: Well, we've always said only if there's a gold standard,

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Speaker 2: and at this point we haven't been satisfied that that

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Speaker 2: would be possible.

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Speaker 1: Okay, do you think this is on heinz Watti's quitting

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Speaker 1: in part because of the cost of power? Do you

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Speaker 1: think it is possible that this country will ever get

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Speaker 1: electricity prices low enough again for the likes of heinz

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Speaker 1: Watties to want to manufacture here.

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Speaker 2: Well, when you look at New Zealand internationally, while our

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Speaker 2: electricity prices, our energy prices have risen compared to a

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Speaker 2: lot of countries around the world, we still offer more

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Speaker 2: affordable generation of energy. And as you look to the future,

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Speaker 2: we're a place where with hydro, with solar, with wind

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Speaker 2: and with back up for the days where it's not

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Speaker 2: raining in the form of the strategic reserve that Genesis

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Speaker 2: have and in the form of owing g Actually, so

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Speaker 2: this can be a place of comparatively affordable energy. So

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Speaker 2: that's what our electricity policy is all about. It's about

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Speaker 2: saying let's make sure we preserve New Zealand's position as

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Speaker 2: an internationally affordable place to do business.

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Speaker 1: But would it ever be low enough again to compete

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Speaker 1: with other manufacturing countries.

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Speaker 2: Well, that all depends on the price path that other

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Speaker 2: countries take. But what we need to do is make

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Speaker 2: sure our electricity policy is sensible and that encourages investment

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Speaker 2: in new generation because that's what's key to keeping electricity affordable.

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Speaker 1: Have you heard that heinz Watti's is just the first

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Speaker 1: this year a morll close.

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Speaker 2: Well, Look, people always speculate in that way. What I

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Speaker 2: have seen is the Manufacturing Index data has suggested that

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Speaker 2: the manufacturing sector as a whole has moved into positive

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Speaker 2: territory in terms of its confidence about the future for

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Speaker 2: the first time in quite a few years. So I imagine,

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Speaker 2: like any industry, it's a mixed picture. So we some

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Speaker 2: that are doing well, there'll be others that are doing

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Speaker 2: less well. And look, you know, I just say for

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Speaker 2: the people affected at Heinzwatties, you know, terrible news for them,

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Speaker 2: and huge impact on those workers, their communities and the

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Speaker 2: people who supply Heineswatty. So we're very conscious of that,

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Speaker 2: and so in all the policies that we're delivering, we're

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Speaker 2: always thinking about how do you keep businesses alive doing well,

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Speaker 2: because that's where jobs and incomes come from.

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Speaker 1: Is he in New Zealand going to need a bailout?

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Speaker 2: No, that is not on the cards. That it's not

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Speaker 2: on the.

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Speaker 1: Cards at the stage. Is it going to need a bailout?

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Speaker 2: Though?

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Speaker 1: Do you think while you're the finance minister?

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Speaker 2: Well, I haven't been advised that that is the case.

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Speaker 1: What do you reckon just making you no business, just

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Speaker 1: having a look at it? What do you reckon?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think in the first instance, they're a business

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Speaker 2: who will adapt to what's a global price shock in

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Speaker 2: the form of jet fuel. They have quite a few

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Speaker 2: options for how they adapt to that. You've seen them

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Speaker 2: take some of those steps already in terms of the

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Speaker 2: prices they charge customers, the routes that they're flying. I

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Speaker 2: also think when you look internationally, you're going to see

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Speaker 2: some shifts and airline patterns around the world, and that

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Speaker 2: means that jet fuel will remain available and I think

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand has every opportunity to compete for customers.

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Speaker 2: We now look like a very safe country compared to

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Speaker 2: a lot of other destinations where people might have wanted

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Speaker 2: to have a tourist experience. Three weeks ago.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, here's hoping that works for us as a

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Speaker 1: fair point. Nicola, thank you very much. Nicola Willis, Finance Minister.

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