Enough ‘can’t do’ — now it’s ‘can do’ time
Prime Minister needs to enlist business in a growth strategy that aims for a more prosperous New Zealand
The Government has to be on guard that its very caution is not getting in the way of it enlisting business momentum to rebuild the economy. At issue is Jacinda Ardern’s reluctance to pivot away from being the bossy Prime Minister and embrace a “can do” attitude instead of the “what we can’t do” patter which dominates her 1pm media conferences.
There’s been a good deal of that back chatter out in the New Zealand business community — some of it quite ribald.
In contrast, Grant Robertson — when he is allowed to hog the limelight — is open to challenge.
Amateur psychologists might say this pent-up frustration, which has been erupting as businesspeople wait on Ardern to announce New Zealand will move to alert level 2 next Wednesday, is a good sign.
A sign that they are itching to get back to work, salvage their businesses, embrace their staff and focus on ensuring their firms can ride through what will be a lengthy period at alert level 2 (probably six to eight weeks) then into level 1 for the duration.
But there is also frustration over Ardern’s style.
Beneath the well-crafted speeches there is mounting concern that she has a blind spot to the real personal damage being wrought within New Zealand. Her deputy PM Winston Peters is alert to this. As is National’s Simon Bridges, who sat through some heart-wrenching appearances at the Epidemic Response Committee this week by people who have suffered terribly because of the current restrictions.
Those stories do not seem to have percolated up to the top floors of the Beehive.
But that frustration is also coming from within the tent.
Rob Fyfe, who is the business point man inside the Government’s Covid-19 pandemic war room, has let it be known he has found the lack of a clear plan to be frustrating.
Fyfe wears his heart on his sleeve. He is passionate. In a 40-minute interview with Robett Hollis (a “global Kiwi”) on LinkedIn, he talked frankly about his role.
What came through in the Hollis interview and in a later conversation with Paul Henry on his Rebuilding Paradise show, was Fyfe’s building frustration at the lack of a long-term plan. “I haven’t seen a long-term plan yet. I think the last six weeks I’ve seen us fighting a fire and trying to get back on our feet. We need a long-term plan. The world’s changed, and it’s changed for many years to come.”
The former Air New Zealand chief executive told Henry there was a risk if the current mindset of stimulating the economy doesn’t change, “we’re going into significant debt, we’re going to have significant unemployment”.
“We need to attract investment into our country, we need to attract people into our country that can create jobs, that can restimulate our economy and bring value to New Zealand. We need a whole new mindset for what the next five to 10 years look like.
“It’s technology that allows us to have people coming ‘to and fro’ across our border without bringing the virus into our country. It’s technology that allows us to use our water more effectively. And it’s technology that allows us to improve the productivity of our agricultural
We need a long-term plan. The world’s changed, and it’s changed for many years to come.
Rob Fyfe
outlook.” There was more besides.
Even Ardern’s own prime ministerial Business Advisory Council is (finally) shutting down. Council members had found it hard to get any purchase with the Government during the crisis.
This was the week for Ardern and Robertson to step up the momentum.
Ardern made much of her invitation from Scott Morrison to join
Australia’s National Cabinet, swap notes on how their respective countries have managed the crisis, and plan ahead for a transtasman tourism bubble. Problem is, they have yet to set a target date for intercountry travel to resume, though Morrison is plumping for July.
There is (as yet) no commonality on tracing apps or bluetooth cards which can take some of the risk out of travel. Nor has there been a sense of ambition about setting a target date to resume travel with South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China, each of which has wrestled hard to bring the virus under control.
On another front — international education — Robertson yesterday dashed hopes this could resume in 2020.
There is no earthly reason why charter flights could not bring students back later this year. Quarantine them ahead of leaving their home countries to ensure they are not carrying the virus. Then quarantine them again on arrival.
But while Education Minister Chris Hipkins was gung ho, Robertson has deflated the sector.
While New Zealand pussyfoots, Morrison is keen for Australia to get back into that market while competitors are slow to step up.
There is a huge thirst for business engagement in New Zealand.
As former Productivity Commission official Paul Conway wrote this week: “Now is the time for NZ to get right out in front of this thing and to use it to our advantage. It’s not so much about the Government ‘picking winners’ at the level of firms but more about strategic direction of travel, with coordinated investment in R&D, information sharing, regulation, skills and infrastructure. It’s naive to think governments shouldn’t do this.
“It’s also about investing in digital skills and encouraging all the small firms operating in our tiny domestic markets to use digital tools to pick up their performance.”
As another commentator wrote: “The public sector did a great job getting Rocket Lab going in NZ. We need to take that mindset and focus on some big ideas with real potential. If we can’t come out of this pandemic with a better economy than the one we’ve had, then we’ll only ever be a backwater and lovely place to retire.”
This is not Pollyanna stuff. It is pure ambition and we need more of it.