National's Paul Goldsmith says wage subsidies to keep businesses afloat should be focus

National's finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith, right, says the Government should consider wage subsidies to keep businesses afloat during Covid-19 disruption. Photo / Mark Mitchell

National is heaping pressure on the Government to announce an economic stimulus package, pushing for wage subsidies to keep businesses hit by Covid-19 disruption afloat.

Opposition Finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith said that while the Government had moved to end the stand-down period for benefits, it had done "nothing to help keep people in their jobs, which should be the priority".

Goldsmith said "a good place to start" would be the support offered by National in the aftermath of the Kaikoura and Canterbury earthquakes, where businesses were offered temporary cover of $500 per week for full-time employees and $300 a week for part time staff.

"We've seen the Government move to ease access to benefits, we think they should also be focused on keeping people in jobs in the first place," Goldsmith said.

"We're in that category now where businesses are directly affected and in danger of falling over and so what we need from the Government is a clear outline of what they're going to do.

Goldsmith suggested businesses would need to prove they needed the subsidy, without giving details.

He named the tourism, hospitality and forestry sectors, but was unclear on whether National believed the subsidies should be nationwide or specific to certain regions.

"What they need to demonstrate is a clear impact upon their businesses and there'll be criteria around that but the Government needs to work out [the criteria]," Goldsmith said.

"What we don't want to see is businesses falling over because of what we hope is a short-term economic shock and people losing their jobs and being thrown onto benefits."

The targeted relief Goldsmith suggests is already under consideration by the Government, after BusinessNZ made a call for such a move at a meeting with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson on Monday.

During Question Time in Parliament, Robertson repeated that measures to keep businesses operating were a focus.

"There are a range of measures we can undertake to keep people in work, that is most definitely our focus at this time."

Goldsmith's call also marks something of a change of focus by National.

Earlier in the week National's leader Simon Bridges said the Government should look to immediate tax cuts.

Goldsmith meanwhile told the Herald that tax reform was not such an immediate pressure.

"Long-term tax relief is certainly part of the mix."