Episode 63: Orion Health Founder, Ian McCrae

With the election campaign in full swing, it’s a pleasure to host Finance Minister and Deputy Leader of the National Party, Nicola Willis, for Episode 72 of Leaders Getting Coffee. When former Finance Minister Steven Joyce resigned from Parliament in the aftermath of the 2017 election, his departure created an opportunity for a relative unknown to enter Parliament from the not-so-lofty position of 48 on the National Party list. Her name was Nicola Willis. She had just lost the Wellington Central electorate contest to another future Finance Minister, Grant Robertson. At the time, she was largely unknown to most New Zealanders. But she’d already completed a political apprenticeship that most new MPs could only dream of, working first as a policy adviser to Bill English and subsequently as a senior adviser to Prime Minister John Key. For the next five years, she had to bide her time in Opposition. It was a period that gave her the opportunity to learn the parliamentary ropes, take on a wide range of portfolios and establish herself as one of National’s emerging leaders. Then came 2023. National was able to form a government alongside ACT and NZ First, and Nicola Willis was appointed Minister of Finance. On this episode of Leaders Getting Coffee, Nicola talks to Bruce Cotterill about being at the centre of the coalition negotiations that led to the formation of the current government. She also discusses the state of the government’s finances they inherited, and the rapid-fire decisions required during those early days in office. There’s plenty of discussion about the performance of the government she’s been part of: the difficult decisions, what they got right, and what they might have done differently. And then there’s the current election campaign. Nicola and Bruce agree to disagree on National’s policy for the supermarket sector. And she is refreshingly open when asked about the possibility of National winning electorate seats at the expense of her own position on the party list. This is a wide-ranging conversation with the Minister who has held the government’s purse strings for the past three years. It provides an informed look behind the scenes of government, coalition politics and economic management — as well as some insight into the person behind the portfolio. Nicola Willis is bright, articulate and ambitious for the country. She also speaks candidly about the very real personal sacrifices that come with pursuing those ambitions in public life. It’s well worth a listen. Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 72 with Bruce Cotterill and Hon Nicola Willis, Minister of Finance See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 71of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s younger government ministers, Simeon Brown. He was inspired by his grandfather who worked to support the local community and later, his mother who led the local residents association. That led to him taking an early interest in politics, and while still at school he occupied roles as secretary and treasurer alongside his mother and subsequently a seat on the Manurewa Local Board while still at university. But national politics soon beckoned, and at the age of just 23 he ran the National party campaign for the Manurewa seat, losing to Labour’s Louisa Wall on that occasion. Three years later, in 2017 he was better prepared and won the safe National seat of Pakuranga, taking over the stronghold previously held by long time MP Maurice Williamson. But that meant six years in opposition, a period he used to build his knowledge of our parliamentary process and a work ethic that would serve him well later. When a National Party led government won the treasury benches in 2023, he was poised to become one of the busiest ministers in the team, and as the parliamentary term closes, he looks back on the wins, the losses and the might have beens. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Simeon Brown speaks with Bruce Cotterill about massive portfolios like transport, health and energy, the challenges he inherited and the opportunities for the future. Those responsibilities came with plenty of damage – remember the mining ban, the potholes and the shambles that was the previous government’s reorganisation of the health system. He’s had three years to address all that. But there’s plenty more to do and the plan for the next parliamentary term is already underway. There’s also a chat about family. Here’s a guy working 18 hour days, and six days weeks trying to balance a family of four children under eight, and a very understanding wife. This is a very personable conversation with a young minister doing a good job in a very tough environment. It’s well worth a listen. Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 71 with Bruce Cotterill and Hon Simeon Brown, Minister of Health See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 70 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is Alex Martelli, a young innovator who is changing the way people buy real estate. She’s a born and bred Aucklander who spent her entire schooling and university years in the city. But somewhere in there a desire for travel was instilled, and she spent 11 years traveling the world and working with some of the biggest real estate brands. She admits that her first break was a result of being in the right place at the right time. But she’s a hard worker and that first opportunity led to an international real estate career that many would crave. Her experiences in Sydney, London and Hong Kong formed a desire to innovate and bring her learnings back to the residential property market in New Zealand. Once back, she founded Martelli Buyers Agents, an agency directly focussed on working exclusively with the buyers of residential real estate. She’s now three years in and her business is growing faster than the market. Early on, she was told that her ideas would never work in New Zealand, and so, along the way she’s had to educate the market about the role of the buyer’s agent, a concept new to New Zealand, but well understood, and in some cases compulsory, in other parts of the world. Those early non-believers have since been turned around and she now enjoys the support of the wider industry that she’s a part of. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Alex speaks with Bruce Cotterill about the role of a buyer’s agent in the real estate transaction, the broad spectrum of people using the service and the benefits to buyers. She also discusses how her team works alongside traditional real estate agents to ensure the best outcome all round. And there’s even room for a robust discussion about the state of the current real estate markets around the world, and the ongoing challenges for New Zealand property, a market that still hasn’t recovered to the heights achieved in 2021. Above all, this is an enjoyable discussion with a young leader who is putting the skills she developed overseas to the test in New Zealand’s highly competitive real estate industry, all while introducing a new service that many people will find highly valuable. Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 70 with Bruce Cotterill and Alex Martelli, Founder and CEO of Martelli Buyers Agents See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 69 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s most successful business CEO’s, Sir Ralph Norris. An everyday upbringing in Auckland’s suburb of Mt Roskill, laid the foundations for the humble and softly spoken manner that typifies Sir Ralph Norris. But don’t let that humility fool you. He was an active youngster and clearly bright enough to further his education. However, like many of the time, the family fortunes didn’t enable university study. But he certainly made up for it when opportunity came calling. His banking career started in the IT department of the ASB Bank, where he was a beneficiary of the bank’s training relationship with IBM and his own curiosity about technology. The IBM training filled in what he’d missed at university and he became instrumental in enabling the massive change that went through the banking system over the following two decades. He speaks of starting with mainframe computers that occupied their own air-conditioned rooms, and he leads us through the changes brought by the personal computer generation, and now the mobile phone centric life we all lead today. Over the course of his career, he led three massive companies. In the first, ASB Bank, he worked his way to the top job. The reputation he built there led to the next two. Firstly he was asked to take the reins at a suffering Air New Zealand in 2001, and subsequently Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2005. In both, he encountered poor customer experience, weak employee engagement, and a flattened growth curve. In both, he led a rejuvenation that still gets talked about. Norris became the CEO of ASB Bank through that most unusual avenue of the IT department at a time when CEO’s came from sales and marketing. He also became a change manager before there was such a term. He led ASB Bank from it’s roots as a regional bank, to a national player competing on level terms with the big internationally owned banks. He brought institutional and commercial banking to what was previously a domestically focussed affair. And he created leaders. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Sir Ralph Norris speaks with Bruce Cotterill about turning business performance around. The importance of asking good questions and listening to what the people within the organisation are saying is the starting point. Then comes a good plan, and the need for relentless communication. There are lessons in this discussion for every current and aspiring leader. And each one delivered in that quiet and humble way. Sir Ralph Norris is one of our country’s best, and this discussion, a must listen, reflects that. Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 69 with Bruce Cotterill and Sir Ralph Norris – Former CEO of ASB and Air NZ. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Episode 68 of Leaders Getting Coffee, our guest is former All Black captain and New Zealand First candidate, Taine Randell. He was appointed captain of the Otago NPC rugby team in 1995 at the age of 19 and All Blacks captain by the time he was 23. Taine Randell says he was lucky, but to plenty of observers, he was a young man with something special about the way he played and the way he led others. He grew up in the Hawkes bay, and after many years in Dunedin and then London, he and his family have been back there for the last 18 years. Despite hanging up his professional rugby boots some twenty years ago, he’s still coaching and even occasionally playing the game that he loves. But business has been his focus since returning home, and he’s built and sold a family owned business as well as working in governance roles to support local businesses and the region at large. Earlier this year Taine Randell announced his decision to enter politics and he’ll be contesting this year’s general election as a NZ First candidate. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Taine Randell speaks about the fact that rugby wasn’t a career option until professionalism arrived on the scene just as he did. And he discusses playing with his heroes in a rugby career that surpassed even his own expectations and a couple of losses that obviously still hurt. There’s also an extensive life in business since stepping off the field. Thereafter, the aspiring politician talks to Bruce Cotterill about his aspirations for the country and the reasons he’s putting his hand up for another step in his leadership journey. He has plenty of good ideas too, and we can expect a very active champion for the small business community. And of course, on the eve of the All Blacks very challenging assignment in South Africa, he has plenty of advice about what his former team are up against and even a prediction of what the outcome might be. Leaders Getting Coffee – Episode 68 with Bruce Cotterill and Taine Randell See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.