ANZLF 2022 - A significant trans-Tasman relationship reset

I have been privileged to attend the 2022 Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) in Sydney. It has been an epic 2 days.

At the 2019 ANZLF meeting  in Auckland, Wharf42 co-founded the Australia New Zealand Agritech Council with nascent members of the Australian Agritech Association. Over the past two days, agritech has been a feature of the 2022 programme.  It reflects just how far the trans-Tasman agritech relationship has developed.

On reflection however, I feel that the most significant development witnessed this year was the very clear and close personal relationship between Prime Ministers Ardern and Albanese. This offers very real value to the longer term trans-Tasman opportunity to build new and strong business and people partnerships. I would classify this as a fundamental relationship reset.

For Wharf42, this maps our own direction over the past 3-4 years. It also reflects the strong Australian-based partnerships with the 2035 Oceania Summit through its deep engagement with Agrifutures Australia, evokeAG, growAG and ACIAR.

As the Summit's programme builds, Australian input and engagement is key. This week's ANZLF meeting provides some insight into how this can be captured. From our region perspective in these tumultuous and challenging times, this reset could not have happened at a better time.