PM looks to befriend companies
The head of a new business advisory council says the exercise will not be a ‘‘talkfest’’.
A new Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council is to be formed as Jacinda Ardern battles to get business on side.
The council, chaired by Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon, aims to build closer relationships between government and business.
Ardern said it would provide her with ‘‘high-level free and frank advice’’ on key economic issues, and would harness expertise from the private sector to develop the Government’s economic policies.
Luxon said it would not simply be a talkfest: ‘‘CEOs don’t join talking shops.’’
He said many international prime ministers and presidents had a similar council.
‘‘It’s a really good idea and an exciting move and it does give us a conduit between government and business,’’ Luxon said.
The council would choose five big topics to inform its agenda.
Ardern said the council would report to her on opportunities it saw and identify emerging challenges.
‘‘It will bring new ideas to the table on how we can scale up New Zealand businesses and grow our export-led wealth.’’
Announcing the launch of the council at Westpac’s head office in Britomart, Auckland, yesterday morning, Ardern referred to herself as the biggest employer in the room.
‘‘I want to work closely with, and be advised by, senior business leaders who take a helicopter view of our economy, who are long-term strategic thinkers who have the time and energy to lead key aspects of our economic agenda,’’ she said.
‘‘The council will complement the work the Government is already doing with the Small Business Council and business and union representative groups through the Tripartite Forum.’’
Business confidence has slipped since Labour formed a coalition government last year.
The ANZ business outlook survey for July showed a net 45 per cent of businesses were pessimistic about the general outlook for the economy, the most downbeat reading in the monthly survey since May 2008.
Ardern said it appeared that business confidence was not so much affected by economic indicators but the need for certainty.
‘‘I understand the desire for certainty in order to make decisions big and small, ranging from the risk of taking on an extra hire through to multimillion-dollar investment decisions.’’
But the economy did have its challenges, she said. These included skills shortages, a small national pool of capital, an infrastructure deficit, low productivity, business impacts on the environment, and automation.
Luxon said he was looking forward to the challenge.
‘‘I believe all New Zealanders, regardless of our backgrounds, are united in wanting to see a more prosperous economy, a more cohesive society, and an enhanced environment. At the end of the day we will all get the country we deserve.’’
My Food Bag co-founder Theresa Gattung said there was business support for social change.
‘‘I believe that no-one in this room thinks it’s OK for children to live in poverty. It’s not OK for someone to be discharged from Middlemore [Hospital] and go home to live in a garage.
‘‘My generation had opportunities and I was able to achieve through getting an education. It will be fiendishly difficult to change, but it’s worth striving for.’’
National Party leader Simon Bridges said Luxon was ‘‘a really good guy’’ but had little connection with the issues affecting businesses.
‘‘He is [chief executive] of an SOE [state-owned enterprise], in a somewhat monopolistic position with the Government,’’ Bridges said.
In contrast, 90 per cent of business consisted of small to medium-sized enterprises. Luxon was a world away from what was driving the plummeting business confidence, Bridges said.
‘‘At the end of the day we will all get the country we deserve.’’
Christopher Luxon, business advisory council chairman