Business and Govt still at arm's length

By DITA DE BONI

A sceptical business community has yet to feel entirely cosy with the country's new centre-left Government in light of planned changes to workplace insurance and the imminent scrapping of the Employment Contracts Act.

The differences came to the fore yesterday when Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Business Roundtable chairman Ralph Norris appealed for mutual cooperation, but gave divergent lines of argument.

In consecutive speeches, both men harked back to pre-election arguments between left and right wing ideologies.

Mr Norris warned that NZ was falling behind the rest of the world by turning away from economic reform.

Economic liberalisation was a "mainstream development common to all OECD countries without exception," he said, and even France under a socialist Government was continuing with privatisation.

"Most politicians around the world would say that the major sources of failure last century were socialism and big government."

While there was no reason in principle a centre-left Government should be negative for business, Mr Norris said, "the thrust of the coalition Government's policies is running counter to international trends."

"There is no evidence that the course which the Government is embarking on will make New Zealand more prosperous or create a fairer society."

Dr Cullen restated that the Coalition would "not leave business to the mercy of global forces."

He briefed what appeared to be an anxious business crowd on the changes in ACC and employment law, stressing that the Coalition was a "pro-business Government that did not see business as a cash cow."

The new employment regulations intended to change the litigious nature of negotiations between employers and employees and would enforce the concept of good faith on all participants, not just employers.

In response to questions from the floor criticising the new economic direction, Dr Cullen said the Government would listen to and consult business, but he presented the new direction as a fait accompli that voters had demanded.

"To paraphrase Dorothy Parker [a completely free-market scenario] is not an ideological position to be thrown aside lightly; it should be thrown at great force."