‘We’ve lost our mojo’: Big companies upset with the economy are investing in Australia instead

New Zealand’s economy has completely lost its momentum and companies are instead investing in growth in Australia, business leaders say.

“I think we’ve lost our mojo in terms of the activity and the energy that we’re really proud of in New Zealand,” Downer NZ CEO Murray Robertson told Markets with Madison at the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom event .

Deloitte NZ CEO Mike Horne said he agreed 100 per cent.

“I’m an extremely proud New Zealander… But I think at the moment we’re not where we were a few years ago.”

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The negative sentiment was loud and clear, and other executives said it forced them to invest on the other side.

“In Australia it’s generally just a few clicks higher in every way,” Frieghtways CEO Mark Troughear said.

Compared to Australia, the transport company’s volumes here were around 5 percent lower.

“The money we invest, we are more likely to invest in Australia. We are seeing a better climate at the moment.”

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Troughear and Air New Zealand chair Dame Therese Walsh added some optimism, saying there was an expectation the economy would recover in 2024.

Find out what major business leaders really think about the state of the economy in today’s episode of Markets with Madison above.

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Madison Reidy is the host of New Zealand’s only financial markets show, Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investments and has covered business and economics for television and radio stations.