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

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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

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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

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