Craig, what is the, I suppose, the single most important thing that New Zealand First will do to fix New Zealand's economy?

We have a very clear plan to double the size of the economy by 2050.

What does that mean in dollar terms? Going from $450 billion to $900 billion.

And the only way we're going to get there is at a 3% per annum growth rate.

is to increase investment and business activity.

So the business activity is going to come from us, providing two small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ most of the Kiwis in New Zealand, we're going to cut the tax rate of SMEs from 28% to 20%.

That 8 cent difference in tax will go into those businesses to hire people, pay more wages, buy plant and equipment, pay off debt, and potentially increase the size of their businesses by acquisition.

So what about this future fund?

Craig, what is the, I suppose, the single most important thing that New Zealand First will do to fix New Zealand's economy?

We have a very clear plan to double the size of the economy by 2050.

What does that mean in dollar terms? Going from $450 billion to $900 billion.

And the only way we're going to get there is at a 3% per annum growth rate.

is to increase investment and business activity.

So the business activity is going to come from us, providing two small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ most of the Kiwis in New Zealand, we're going to cut the tax rate of SMEs from 28% to 20%.

That 8 cent difference in tax will go into those businesses to hire people, pay more wages, buy plant and equipment, pay off debt, and potentially increase the size of their businesses by acquisition.

So what about this future fund?

So would you call yourself then a free market man? Because if you are, then doesn't that run head on straight into many of the New Zealand first policies, which are really interventionist? Well, I'm not really an

ideologue in that sense, Peter.

I look back as part of my mulling over New Zealand First, my own career, and I looked at what I had done for different parts of our financial services infrastructure.

The tax work I did to help create or lead the work on the Pai tax regime that underpins KiwiSaver, you could argue tax settings are an important feature of central and local government, not the private sector.

They're important, obviously, because of the settings for the private sector, but the government sets them.

The work on both sides of the house to create the local government funding agency from scratch.

That was not a private sector initiative per se, but it was driven by councils who experienced much higher costs of borrowing than they were qualified or due for because of the quality of their credit rating.

And I just wonder in terms of the practicalities of interfering or intervening in those, particularly in the supermarkets, in privately held businesses, Isn't that one step away from socialism, nationalism, nationalization of business, which should be really against your own personal financial philosophy?

Yeah, and heading to Parliament, if you make it, what made you put your hand up?

I've been mulling a little bit around next steps for me with my career.

I've always been a builder through my career, whether it's tax policy for Minister Cullen on the Pi tax regime, starting off the local government funding agency, which is now $28 billion, providing finance to councils for CapEx.

the building of commercial bay by precinct in downtown Auckland getting the Auckland Future Fund off the ground after selling the airport shares.

That's effectively a wealth fund for Auckland Council ratepayers.

So I'm thinking, well, what else can I do with my skills? Well, should I have a crack at politics? And the New Zealand Party reached out to me.

I sat down with Winston Peters, had a talk, and then after talking to family and friends, said, why not? And we looked at different electorates.

The New Zealand superannuation policy that's been released in the last 48 hours from New Zealand First, what's the problem here? Are there too many permanent residents, if you like, that aren't New Zealand citizens that are getting it?

Can you just explain how you came to be involved or prescribed to those kind of views?

Well, I've been involved in building infrastructure for most of my career, whether it's the tax pieces behind the Pai regime, behind KiwiSaver, building commercial bay and precinct properties, starting the local government funding agency and helping with others to build that into a $28 billion business that basically finances local authorities.

And more recently was one of the co-founders of the board of the Auckland Future Fund.

These are all entities that wouldn't necessarily come about through market forces.

You've got to find ways of assisting a push forward and allow the market to develop around you.

So the Auckland Future Fund decided they did not need a 10% stake in Auckland Airport.

the mayor drove that process with his councillors.

So what do we need to buy the rest of them back