‘Wait and see’ for business impacts of the change in govt

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A post-election survey by Grant Thornton New Zealand has revealed more than 330 business owners and leaders across the country are very much in the “wait and see” camp when it comes to the new Government.

Asked how optimistic they are about the outlook for New Zealand’s economy over the next 12 months, 53 percent were “slightly optimistic”, while 20 percent were  “very optimistic” and the remainder (27 percent) were either slightly or very pessimistic.

Confidence levels in the Government’s ability to support and promote business growth and development returned much the same results with 52 percent feeling “somewhat confident”, 27 percent “very confident” and the remainder either slightly or very pessimistic.

“The trend towards only slight levels of optimism and confidence is to be expected after the formation of New Zealand’s first three-party coalition Government, particularly one Government operating under two agreements. It’s new territory for everyone so these ‘wait and see’ sentiments aren’t surprising,” Grant Thornton New Zealand business advisory services partner Greg Thompson said.

“However the majority of survey respondents (57 percent) are confident in the new Government’s ability to create a more favourable regulatory environment, with the biggest trend emerging around the Resource Management Act; 28 percent want some serious reform.

The second biggest trend is strong support for reduced compliance burdens for SMEs (18 percent), including employment law, health and safety regulations, and red tape in general.

“This represents a clear need for businesses to have the ability to run their operations more cost effectively and efficiently. It also sets a strong mandate for the Government to move at pace to provide some clear direction about how they’re going to move the economy from steady as she goes to full steam ahead.”