WELLYWOOD: THC ROAR OF PROPERTY AND POLITICS.

KPI COMMERGALS STUART RICHARDSON REPORTS FROM THIS YEAR'S NZPI CONFERENCE IN "WELLYWOOD'; WHERE,WITH THE ELECTION LOOMING, POLITICS AND PROPERTY SHARED TOP BILLING.

Around 500 of New Zealand property's great and good gathered at Wellington's Duxton Hotel at the beginning of last month for the Property Institutes annual conference. This year's theme, Wellywood: The Roar of Property and Politics.

The two day event (three, if you count the warm up on the golf course) was the largest ever organised by The Institute. It saw 27 workshop sessions presented by 38 speakers, an 0scars-themed gala dinner for the Institute Awards ceremony, guest speeches by All Black legend Sean Fitzpatrick and Oscar winning Kiwi sound engineer Hammond Peek and, of course, provided plenty of opportunity to network - or size up the competition. Thanks to blind luck, software company Estate Masters got a good look at some of theirs, Vision Software, when the latter stepped up to the podium to claim the former's conference grand raffle prize, a signed photo of Mr Fitzpatrick. One against the head, publicity wise, some might say

National Party leader Don Brash and New Zealand First's Winston Peters amply provided the roar of politics - expected to be especially fierce given the Impending election. Dr Brash's style was, however; rather relaxed, delivering his address on the government's role in the property market, regulation and the implications of a National government for investors from notes jotted on the back of a handkerchief. Fitting given that Mr Peters, in more adversarial mood, went on to denounce the National kingpin's political convictions as a tissue of lies. In an attack which made the next morning's papers, he accused Dr Brash of being a "political hitchhiker" whose allegiance to his party was based on "pure opportunism"; a roar- indeed, Commentator Matthew Hooton rounded off the conference's first ever explicitly political segment, attacking the managerialism and bureaucracy of the Labour government, warning Dr Brash not to get ahead of the public on policy and, despite Mr Peters' histrionics, on balance predicting that NZ First is likely to form an alliance and the next government with National.

This year's workshop programme was the most comprehensive in the conference's history according to NZPI CEO, Conor English. He said the organising committee aimed to do three things when planning the event line-up.

"First we want the content to inspire those who have attended the conference to go back to their offices and do at least one thing differently. We want those who have attended to learn something new that is practical and which they can apply. Second, we aim to stretch people's minds and offer a fresh perspective. We want to take delegates out of their office environment and put them in front of speakers who they wouldn't usually get to see, so that when they're on their way home they think 'Cripes, I would never have thought of that.' And third, we aim to have a bloody good time. We've got pretty good at doing that."

Key workshop themes included the role of technology in the office of-the future, the coming influence of China and, perennial favourite, the outlook for the commercial, residential and rural property markets.

Fulfilling the mind-stretching and not-the-usual- suspect criteria, Meredith Thatcher a facility strategic planner from Ottawa, Canada presented two workshops, the first on wireless technology, the second entitled Change, Chaos. Contrast and Compromise: The Workplace, of the Future.

The wireless revolution is only just beginning in New Zealand and, according to Ms Thatcher; there's more for commercial property landlords to get to grips with than just the baffling array of acronyms which describe its various technologies. How, for instance, should a commercial lease deal with the problem of "signal spill" - when the office on floor 12's wireless network is inadvertently broadcast to the office on floor 13?

Ms Thatcher's second presentation focused on changing demographics and generational dynamics within the workforce and the need for smart office design. Flexibility of the interior work environment is already a key selling point and Ms Thatcher pressed home the need to plan space which is versatile (people can move around), rearrangeable (things can move around) and convertible (space and things can be reconfigured) to accommodate accelerating rates of organisational and operational change within the modern tenant company.

The sessions on China, Economics presented by Goldman Sachs' Johnathon Anderson and China Property Market and Shanghai Investment presented by Jones Lang LaSalle's Guy Hollis, created a real buzz among delegates. Mr English explains why:

" The reason we wanted sessions which looked at China is because it is going to affect us in a big way and not enough people in the industry are as aware of this as they should be. You're not going to sit around your office and think, 'How is China going to affect the work I've got to do at 4pm?' But what you need to understand is that the trends that drive property and the needs of the people who use property are going to be influenced over time by what happens in China - it's a fact. What was discussed in the workshops on China was a real eye-opener for many people"

The task of predicting which way the various sectors of the property market, are set to turn was assigned to some of the industry's best placed prophets. Quotable Value's David Nagel said that higher interest rates, inflation, declining immigration and slumping economic growth and a concomitant rise in unemployment pose a threat to the health of the residential market. He concluded that in the short to medium term the market will continue to level off with the potential of declining values in the areas which experienced the sharpest growth over the last two or three years. Investors will have to wait between two and four years for any substantial upwards movement in residential prices, he said.

The outlook for the commercial market is still rosy according to Mark Synnott of Colliers International. Australian investment dollars will continue to pour into the sector and demand for office space is set to remain strong even in the event of the forecast economic slowdown, he said, As a consequence, prices and rents will continue to rise, keeping yields stable at around 8-9%, while he predicted that vacancy rate will drop yet further.

At the end of conference day one, delegates were treated to a gala dinner catered by New Zealand's top chef Ruth Pretty, while striking singing trio, The Beat Girls, provided the entertainment. Sticking with the Oscars motif, movies played on a big screen, the less bashful delegates dressed up as their silver screen idols and then, of course, there were the Institute awards - although the winners' acceptance speeches were a little less gushing than is customary at the Academy.

AMP Capital Investors head of property Anthony Beverly was honoured with the Property Institute's Premier Award. Described by Mr English as an "unsung hero", Anthony is in charge of the AMP Property Portfolio with assets of $580m, the AMP Securities Fund ($70m), the listed AMP NZ Office Trust ($840m) and Property For Industry ($283m), and the entrepreneurial Property Ventures fund. The award is in recognition of Anthony's positive impact on the property sector and the contribution he has made to New Zealand's economy over the course of his career

Other awards on the night included the Academic Award - awarded to an academic who has made a major contribution to the property sector by demonstrating exceptional research or teaching performance in the field of property. This year's recipient was Professor Rodney Jefferies, Associate Professor at Lincoln University. The 2005 Journalism Award was won by Ann-Mane Johnson of The Dominion Post, while Pamela Reid from ASB Bank in Auckland, won the Young Property Professional Award.

"We need some tall poppies. We need to recognise those who have distinguished themselves from their peers and who provide leadership and inspiration to our important sector. These winners do that," Mr English said.

The penultimate speaker on the conference itinerary was Kiwi movie sound man Hammond Peek who, unlike the previous night's pretenders, has genuine Hollywood credentials.

Mr Peek took the audience on a behind the scenes tour which included an insight into the creation of the captivating worlds of the Lord of The Rings trilogy, the last film of which, The Return of the King, earned him an Oscar (He was even generous enough to pass around the coveted, gold-plated gong which is heavier than you might think.) While much was made of the cutting edge technology that allowed New Zealand golden boy Peter Jackson to put together some of the best battle sequences in movie history, Mr Peek revealed that it took some time to master Initially the digitally-created armies' artificial intelligence was so sophisticated that Middle Earths most fearsome warriors would charge into the fray, take one look at the Ork hordes and run away.

And it wasn't just the film critics who Jackson won plaudits from. Having observed the logistics involved in transporting, feeding and sheltering a crew of over a thousand, an awestruck Kiwi army officer approached the production company for operational advice. Mr Peek left the audience with a glimpse of his latest film project and another directed by Peter Jackson, King Kong. (And if the crowd's reaction was anything to go by the public will go ape over this one too...)

Sean Fitzpatrick's slot was billed as a motivational speech; after ail, who better to inspire a bit of steel late on a Friday afternoon than the man who, by his own admission, started his rugby career as a little fat boy on the 3D school team and finished it as the most capped AB of all time and the most capped hooker in the history of the game.

After a rousing rendition of the Haka and an anecdote or two from the backseat of the tour bus, Mr Fitzpatrick left conference delegates with the five rules which he believes have steered the All Blacks to be the worlds most successful international sports team; their win rate stands at 84%.

1. Never take your place for granted - want to win.
2. Never believe you know it all.
3. Judge yourself only against the world's best.
4. Harness fear of failure.
5. Be as successful as you can be.

And according to Mr English, the conference was about as successful as it could have been. "General feedback has been absolutely fantastic. We had a great conference in Queenstown last year and never thought we could top it, but I have had around 100 people tell me this year's was the best conference yet. You can't ask for much better feedback than that"

For those who missed out on this years conference, make sure to book for the next one. Every other year the Institute teams up with its Aussie counterpart and hosts a joint conference, In 2006, it's sure to be a hot ticket event; it's being hosted in the tropical Queensland town of Cairns.

KPI Commercial, August 2005. Page 42