Examples include the health and safety legislation, employment relations act, tax policy, GST. In fact, almost everything we do in business is legislated, developed and reviewed through the policy setting process.
Bluntly - this is a significant process that either assists or hinders business growth. We need an adaptable policy setting framework to improve and encourage sustainable business growth which will allow us to compete locally, nationally and internationally.
An example is labour skill shortage. We need a government which will ensure policy setting delivers skilled staff "when" they are required; thatunderstands the skilled labour pipeline requirements for all sectors; and works across all agencies to ensure they have strong relationships with businesses to facilitate and deliver the skilled labour" on time, "every time'.
We need policy settings to undertake a major reform of the planning environment to make it less burdensome.
Currently there is a lot of compliance, confusion and the blurring of lines with respect to central and local government responsibilities.
We have seen the outcome of this in insufficient housing stock leading to lower living standards for New Zealanders and particularly for our community.
This is only one reason why a major reform in this area is required.
We need policy settings that provide cost and time effective business compliance, especially for small and medium sized businesses.
A priority is the health and safety legislation and while I support the shift from compliance to an engagement tool, it is still a very complex framework to implement and ultimately feel confident you understand, comply and have achieved the necessary shift in a cultural context.
Vote for a government which is committed to supporting policy settings to encourage and promote sustainable business growth.
Allison Lawton is the chief executive for the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce
