Government must Act on Elements of 2025 Taskforce

Media Release
30 November 2009

Government must Act on Elements of 2025 Taskforce Report

There is much to be applauded in the 2025 Taskforce Report released today but also some serious omissions according to the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We share the government’s goal of closing the income gap with Australia by 2025. It is crucial if we are to turn around the outflow of people to that country we adopt many of the initiatives proposed,” said Chamber CEO Charles Finny.

“Many of the proposals are consistent with what the Chambers of Commerce have been calling for some time as set out in the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce Election Manifesto. (Click here to access).

“However, there are some areas where we would have liked to see more emphasis – for example better integration of the New Zealand economy with the rest of the world, we need a more liberal immigration regime and more needs to be done to grow New Zealand exports and international business generally.

“We also would have liked to have seen more on emphasis on addressing our infrastructure deficit. More investment in infrastructure is the key to increasing our productivity.

“We welcome many of the initiatives including the establishment of a Productivity Commission, the divestment of central and local government assets, the easing of mining development constraints, the introduction of market-based student loans and the abolishing of the university fee cap.

“We also endorse the focus on lower, flatter broader-based taxes and hope to see some radical ideas from the Tax Working Group tomorrow.

“The government has set an ambitious goal of closing the income gap with Australia by 2025. If it is serious about this goal, it must seriously consider these proposals with a view to implementing many of them as soon as possible,” Mr Finny concluded.

ENDS

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