Kiwis and Aussies play nice in business
The New Zealand and Australian governments are set to jointly launch an innovation challenge for students. on both sides of the Tasman.
Details have yet to be released but the Entrepreneurship Challenge will target school and university start-ups.
The initiative was one recommendation from the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) held in Sydney on Friday, attended by 250 business and political leaders.
Chatham House rules prevent a detailed report of proceedings, but discussion centred on how the two countries can work together to take on the world. Officially, the theme was ‘‘In pursuit of economic growth and productivity: Australia and New Zealand, together or apart?’’
‘‘We want to see some concrete outcomes emerging from this forum,’’ New Zealand co-chair, and Auckland International Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood said ahead of the occasion. ‘‘We are also looking forward to our new sector group on indigenous business getting under way.’’
Australia’s co-chair is Carnival Australia chief executive Ann Sherry, a former Westpac New Zealand chief executive who attended her first ANZLF in 2004 in that role – for the New Zealand delegation.
Other forum recommendations included moves by New Zealand to ditch international traveller departure cards, investigating funding systems to help free up trans-Tasman capital and jointly promoting indigenous tourism.
A commitment to working together on infrastructure projects with common approaches to procurement was also adopted.
They stemmed from five sector working groups – tourism, innovation, infrastructure, agribusiness and health technology – established in late 2016. Since then the indigenous business group has been formed with director Traci Houpapa as the New Zealand co-chair.
Friday’s forum also announced that Student Volunteer Army leader Sam Johnson would cochair a new group on the Future of Work. This followed a presentation by consultants McKinsey, canvassing which jobs might disappear in coming years and what changes to education and training would be needed.
The forum ran alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s summit with Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, both of whom attended the forum lunch.
Ardern attended other sessions where she was joined by several Cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
In a conciliatory speech, newly elected National Party leader Simon Bridges declared New Zealand open for business and reminded people that National was the largest party in Parliament.
Bridges (who gave permission for his speech to be reported) said National would support the Government in some areas (Trade Minister David Parker’s moves on the CPTTP), oppose it in others (employment law reforms) and propose its own legislation elsewhere.
‘‘I want to bring policies that create growth and opportunity, and social policies that work,’’ he said.
❚ Disclosure: Stuff attended the forum courtesy of ANZLF.