Mood of the Boardroom live debate: Robertson sticks knife in Goldsmith for mistakes

The showdown between Finance Minister Grant Robertson and national finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith has taken a sharp turn.

Robertson used his time on stage to mention some of the mistakes Goldsmith had made over the past few weeks.

“Their economic approach is in disarray, with a plan riddled with basic errors,” Robertson said.

“Paul Goldsmith admitted to a $ 4 billion error in his tax plan. He called it ‘irritating.’ Judith Collins called it ‘completely inconsequential.’ Then he admitted another careless mistake, this time a deficit of $ 88 million. Judith Collins said “Yes,” she still trusts him. We later found out that they had double counted part of their transportation costs. Another $ 3.9 billion mistake and no answer on how to fix it. “

Goldsmith did not take it grudgingly, fighting back by attacking government performance.

Goldsmith asked how many of the government’s promises had actually materialized, particularly with regard to the number of houses built.

Goldsmith also called the first lockdown brutal and questioned the government’s strategy to combat the pandemic.

The barb swap comes in a year full of complexity, during which the economy has become the main topic of conversation in the run-up to the elections.

This makes today’s debate between Finance Minister Grant Robertson and National Finance Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith for Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom even more important.

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The debate is chaired by NZME Managing Editor Shayne Currie at a breakfast in Auckland.

This is the 19th edition of the Mood of the Boardroom, which this year surveyed 165 business leaders from across the spectrum about their views on the local and international economy, their biggest concerns, and how they rate the performance of political leaders.

O’Sullivan said it was encouraging that a record number of CEOs were participating in the 2020 Survey in the context of a Covid-19 pandemic.

“Optimism may have been at the lowest levels seen in the history of the survey, but his responses demonstrated his own commitment to changing the economy.”

O’Sullivan said that despite the admiration for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s leadership during the Covid-19 crisis, there was a sense that the private sector’s own ideas were not leaking to either Ardern or the finance minister. Grant Robertson.

“Companies have had almost enough of the ‘ninth floor’ reign and they want a full seat at the table,” O’Sullivan said.

As Robertson and Goldsmith battle it out today, the question will be which of the two is better able to win the trust of the nation’s business leaders at such a difficult time in our history.

The stakes simply couldn’t be higher.