Labour's incumbent Finance Minister Grant Robertson has been downgraded by big business leaders, while National's finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis has risen in their ranks.
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BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope has one simple request for the next government: “It will be helpful if you treat business as part of the solution, not the problem.”
Hope says there’s been a lack of trust. The Labour government has been involved in most things business does: “There’s the opportunity for government to work collaboratively with business and build that trust.”
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He says the general business environment has deteriorated — The Treasury forecasts economic growth at 1 per cent and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 0.8 per cent.
“This speaks of an economic downturn and the policies business has had to work with, beside Covid, haven’t been friendly for increased productivity and growth.”
Hope warned that if policy settings, such as for the labour market, immigration and foreign direct investment aren’t corrected, then businesses may go offshore for their growth.
BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope. Photo / Michael Craig
“Businesses have access to skills and capital in other markets to help them grow.
“Their settings are more welcoming. It would be good if that growth occurred in New Zealand with the right settings.”
Hope says the challenge is to increase productivity and “you need capital to do that. There are ever-tightening rules around foreign direct investment; the settings around the labour market, education and skills don’t present a healthy picture.
“Business has been saying this for some time and the Government has mostly ignored these messages, and this has led to a high degree of frustration.”
He says immigration settings are constantly changing as the Government has taken a long time to decide what they want. “There was a rush to address the long-term skills shortage across all levels — high, medium and low skills. The accredited worker scheme contains high levels of risk and this can affect New Zealand’s international reputation.
“We are looking at a shortage of 250,000 workers by 2048, about 8 per cent of the workforce, and you can’t shrink yourself to greatness.”
Hope says New Zealand should attract long-term skills from people who want to live here and help the country grow economically. “The immigration rules need to be simplified, and make it clear who you are prioritising to come into the country.
“It would be better to enable business to work internationally and get these people. Business is pretty good at that but at the moment it’s challenging [because of the immigration rules].
Hope says the labour market settings should be more reflective of growth. “New Zealand pay is low, and the fair pay agreements are not helpful for wage growth and productivity in any shape or form.
“Why lock people into vast collective agreements? It hasn’t been well thought through. Even Treasury advice to the Minister of Finance was ‘what is the problem you are trying to fix?’
“The cost outweighs the benefit, and the labour market has become more rigid. Why do that when you are competing with other markets for skills, innovation and growing the economy. I’m not sure what the Government is trying achieve, there.”
Hope says the government could have achieved the same result by increasing resources such as technology and data and workplace assessors, rather than creating additional regulation and enforcement.
