Election 2020: Political Party Leaders and MPs Address Auckland’s Business Crowd

The Greens say the three Cs are most important to small businesses in the next 100 days: collaboration, communication and creativity, while Act only cares about “the big C”: certainty.

New Zealand First says Bill Clinton was right in 1992 when he said “it’s the economy, stupid.” National wants tax cuts by December 1, but Labor says that would lead to austerity.

In a mostly civilized and polite discussion, a deputy from each party this afternoon made his speech to a Business North Harbor crowd with a lunch of lamb chops or fish.

There were a few rolling eyes, both from MPs and audience members, and some comments on taxes like love, tax holes, and just a reference to the recent NZ First 1 percent poll.

“This could be the last time you see [NZ First leader Winston Peters] live, “National Finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith said.

“Kind of like Elton John’s farewell tour.”

Greens small business spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick, who drove there in a carpool, gave her six-minute presentation first, saying New Zealand faced three crises: climate change, biodiversity and poverty.

But Covid-19 presented an opportunity to fully resolve them, which would require large-scale implementation and create jobs, Swarbrick said.

Peters was next and gave the audience a history lesson.

He said that thanks to NZ First’s contribution to the coalition, New Zealand had a response from the Labor government worthy of the beloved Prime Minister of the 1930s, Michael Joseph Savage.

“Given the historical uncertainty that the pandemic produced, and without a manual to guide us, we said that if the coalition was wrong, it should err in being closer to the humanitarian response of the First Labor Government to the Great Depression than to the Fourth Labor. the government’s blitzkrieg approach, “Peters said.

“The 1935 approach helped the country survive the depression and established long-term access to housing, employment, and the necessary well-being. It also set the course for policy stability that will last for the next 50 years.

“The last ideologically driven approach of 1984 and 1990 sent people off the cliff without warning or support. Thirty-five years later we are still looking at the rubble.”

Peters pledged to continue the Provincial Growth Fund, returning 90-day judgments, with no tax increases, reducing corporate taxes and offering a 20 percent tax break on new exports.

Goldsmith’s opinion on the NZ First offering could be summarized as: “Basically, [NZ First] we selected a Labor-green government and we stopped doing stupid things. “

Instead, National would stimulate the economy through “short-term stimulating” tax cuts and encourage the private sector to create jobs, Goldsmith said.

“The Labor Party believes that government primarily creates jobs.

“What you do is borrow money and use it to help people hunt possums, plant flax bushes and do various projects on site.

“And again, that’s useful, but it’s not the whole story. Where most of the sustainable jobs come from is private sector investment.”

Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford disagreed.

He said National’s tax cuts would benefit the rich rather than the poor, who would spend the extra money and stimulate the economy.

Instead, Labor would provide a strong and stable government which was what businesses needed, he said.

“Friends, we already have a practical plan for the next two governments,” Twyford said.

“What we need now is stability and continuity, not a divided and distracted National Party that cannot even add up its own numbers. They have had three leaders this year and every day a new mistake arises in Paul. [Goldsmith’s] fiscal plan “.

Law enforcement leader David Seymour said he had heard the voices of business owners saying things were not looking good. The key to his recovery was good policy, he said.

Some people would tell New Zealanders not to worry about the amount of debt the government was taking on because interest rates were so low that “it would be foolish not to borrow,” Seymour said.

“But if you study the history of mankind, going into debt never ends well.”

Seymour said key policies for businesses would be to “make Taiwan smart” with the public health response to Covid-19, pay off debt quickly, and seize the opportunity to “be an island nation on a pandemic planet.”

However, whatever the color of the party, everyone got together and agreed on one thing while sitting together on Auckland’s North Shore: there needs to be another harbor crossing.

National would start construction in 2028, Labor could do the same “or it could be later”, NZ First said New Zealand needed to start acting “like a first world country”, the Greens wanted a multimodal option, while Act said ” we have to get down to work. “