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Labor and National are exchanging blows in the election campaign, with Judith Collins calling the promise to make Matariki a holiday “cynical” in the face of struggling business and Grant Robertson calling National’s policy announcements “chaotic and inconsistent” .
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“I think the government has no idea about small business,” Judith Collins said in response to the Labor policy announcement. Source: 1 NEWS
Announcing a commitment to improve Hawke’s Bay Hospital, the National leader told the media that Labor “is actually imposing a lot of costs on small businesses.”
Collins said it was “quite revealing” after National posted yesterday its promise to tackle the methamphetamine problem in New Zealand and Labor’s response “was to tell every small business and every business owner that they have to pay for another. public holiday”.
“In fact, I think that’s really cynical, and by the way, that doesn’t come in a few years.”
Labor leader Jacinda Ardern promised yesterday to make Matariki a holiday starting in 2022 to give companies time to prepare, and said it would be “a confidence boost that many sectors need” in the face of Covid-19, such as the hospitality industry. and retail.
Collins said the promise, in addition to government policies like raising the minimum wage, showed a “lack of negotiation or help for small businesses, who have to pay rent and work with commercial owners, all of this is really difficult for small businesses. “. “.
“I think the government has no idea about small businesses.”
Today, Labor unveiled its small business plan, which included regulating rates for business services, a move Collins said he would support.
“It’s like a fig leaf covering all the other costs that they have done to small businesses. It’s also a pretty small fig leaf.”
Collins’ statement was in response to a coup from Labor’s Robertson, who called National’s promises “chaotic and inconsistent” because they have no attached costs.
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Labor today promised to extend the small business loan scheme, while National promised a major renovation of Hawke’s Bay Hospital. Source: 1 NEWS
“It is incredible that a party that used to pride itself on its economic credentials cannot even put a price on its policies or say how they are going to pay for them,” he said.
“It’s this kind of inconsistency that means National is a risky alternative.”
Collins called Robertson’s comments “a public relations twist from a finance minister who doesn’t understand the need to borrow money and pay it back.”
“We are really focused on making sure that when we borrow we are not wasting it.”
NZ First leader Winston Peters couldn’t resist targeting National today either, accusing him of being “worse than reckless” for announcing so many policies ahead of the Pre-Election Fiscal and Economic Update. [PREFU].
Peters said that NZ First would publish its full manifesto after party members had seen the PREFU, when “you would see who understands economics.”
“The first thing we get to know is the latest updated information,” Peters said.
“I know that others already have all their costs out there. I wouldn’t know how they did that, but we want to wait until the PREFU comes out, then we’ll know what we’re up against. “
