Michael Barnett: Thank you Auckland, it has been a privilege

Michael Barnett is stepping down as Auckland Business Chamber CEO this Friday. Photo / Michael Craig

OPINION:

I'm writing this in my office, perched on the top floor of the Auckland Business Chamber building in Symonds Street, looking out on a magnificent island-dotted harbour and an endless horizon of opportunity.

I have packed up my desk, tucked away the cuddly toys given to me to ease the pain of my cancer battle and am steadying myself for a round of farewells.

I won't be in this office after July 31, but I will be about and pursuing a busy work schedule, mainly project based, because even as I stand down as chief executive after 31 years of championing the best interests of Auckland's tens of thousands of small and medium enterprises, the job is not done.

I will continue to be relentless, focused, and zealous to use the experiences, learnings and wide network of relationships I have gained in this influential role to change the things I can to better the health, wealth, wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

My ethos has been shaped, and I hope refined, by grasping hold of that simple tenet given to me by rugby legend, mentor and fellow cancer patient, Jock Hobbs to change the things you can.

Anyone who has worked with me knows too well how impatient and frustrated I get when problems or challenges are used as an excuse for inaction or a tick-box, or worse blame and complain response is proffered rather than unleashing a torrent of constructive, creative and practical solutions to contribute to our commercial, competitive, economic and social development.

When I took over as CEO in 1991, having worked as its international trade manager for eight years, I was determined to reframe and reimagine the role of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, as it was then, so it became more relevant to strike out on a new path into the future.

I saw opportunity to move this fine institution beyond stuffy boardrooms and into the marketplace with a voice that could lobby and commentate on any range of issues from labour laws to port inefficiencies to slow and convoluted consenting. Its purpose was focused as an advocate for better, fairer, and more equitable outcomes for business.

I also put the Chamber on a commercial footing so it no longer relied on membership fees but could pay its way successfully through a vibrant and energetic events programme, conference leadership, sponsorships and delivering important contracts to promote employment, skills, investment and business achievements for the good of a much wider community.

I am proud of a special partnership with the Ministry of Social Development we created to support Maori, Pacific and new migrants into work and becoming the leading agency helping young people get licences so they could be employed.

We have also made the Chamber Business Awards a huge annual event to celebrate innovation and imagination as enterprises come together from across the Auckland region, and are supporters of Young Enterprise Awards and the Business Hall of Fame.

As the Chamber extended deeper into the community, taking up a social remit too and espousing the need for integrity, ethics and transparency in all business activities, we have continually improved the range of tools and expert mentorship we offer to support business to do better in good and tough times.

Advocacy has always been a key role, not just for Auckland businesses but as a member of the chamber network across New Zealand.

We have earned our place as a trusted, credible and influential lobbyist, the voice of SMES to policy and decision makers in local and central government with views that are worth listening to.

We have been vocal on major issues including diversity, immigration, roading, ports, infrastructure, economic development, fair pay, climate change and the need for NZ Inc. to lift the game to look outwards and compete internationally as a productive, competitive, skilled nation that is ready for the future.

Covid was a relentless battle, and we were indefatigable in our efforts to not only work with government to get relief financially to save jobs – and enterprises - but also to destigmatise and take care of business owners' mental health and wellbeing.

I was humbled by how candid – and desperate – business owners were in describing their dilemma and I am so thankful that government and other business organisations rallied so there was a fast lifeline thrown to tens of thousands of businesses with the first tranches of support payments, enabling jobs to be saved and businesses to live another day.

We got 60,000 signatures to a petition within 48 hours to show government that this was more than a health emergency as business sank under the weight of lockdowns and lockouts. Help was needed. They responded and the dialogue has not ceased.

But it went much further. My mailbox filled with heart-torn messages from despairing business owners and managers trying to navigate terrifying and unknown waters, faced with saving their enterprise from closure, retain staff, pay bills, put food on the table and see their home at risk of being taken by the bank as the tsunami of debt and no revenue mounted.

Labour MP Andrew Little and Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett at a breakfast meeting of business and community leaders.

I recognised those warning signs, and rather than simply sympathise we changed the game and so First Steps, a self-managed, self-help online portal was launched with the EMA and Government as partners.

Some 70,000 business leaders have reached out and used this service and the hope is, with continued funding, that it will expand nationwide as the need has not waned.

I like to think of myself as a man of today with an eye for tomorrow who values fairness, equality, and honesty.

I have never held back in promoting equal rights and opportunity or championing diversity regardless of gender, creed, culture or persuasion. It's part of that purpose I believe I must follow to do all I can to support a better society for all.

And I have never held back from promoting New Zealand on a world stage, not only as a member of trade missions to grow our exports but also to meet and learn from world leaders like Nelson Mandela, my hero, Bill Clinton, Bob Hawke, John Howard, Tony Abbot, Tony Blair and others.

I have worked with New Zealand prime ministers, ministers and officials without fear or favour, building the Chamber into a recognised and respected brand that promotes the best interests of business, the SME sector, the Auckland community and the power of positivity to recover and rebuild to be better than ever.

So thank you Auckland for supporting me, the Chamber and having confidence in the future of this great region.