Todd McClay - Economic Development
30 July 2019
The Government must accept responsibility for the fact its lacklustre policies have seen 4000 jobs disappear from our
economy, National’s Economic Development Spokesperson Todd McClay says.
“There were 4000 fewer employed people in the March 2019 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. By contrast,
10,000 new jobs were created per month on average across 2015-2017 under National.
“It is a core role of Government to put in place polices that help create jobs and maintain our living standards. But
this Government has lost focus and failed to put in place an economic plan that supports employers.
“The Government needs to recognise that what’s driving job growth down is its anti-growth agenda and lack of plan to
support our businesses.
“Policies like the oil and gas ban, greater powers for unions, industrial law reform, and increasing labour costs shake
business confidence by demonstrating a lack of regard for those who create jobs.
“Policies that increase costs – like higher fuel taxes, new tourist taxes, and increased WorkSafe levies – as well as
threatened new taxes on cars and capital gains, make it harder for businesses to employ people and harder for Kiwis to
get ahead.
“The Government needs to stop making excuses and get on with putting in place an economic plan to support New Zealand
businesses.”
ends