All New Zealanders have had to make sacrifices over the past few months as the Covid-19 pandemic has tipped our world upside down.
Our small businesses in particular have shouldered a significant amount of the economic pain in order to abide by the lockdown rules and I have heard from many of our local business owners in Pakuranga over the last couple of months.
But with no new Covid-19 cases for two straight weeks, it’s time for New Zealand to start moving forward. We need to get on with the job of rebuilding our economy.
We understand the task we must undertake over the next few years is immense and cannot be taken lightly.
This is why National has already started rolling out our plan to create jobs and grow the economy.
We recently announced our JobStart package, which will provide a $10,000 cash payment to businesses for each new full-time hire up to a maximum of 10.
It would begin on November 1, 2020 and run for the remaining five months of the financial year through to March 31, 2021, incentivising up to 50,000 new jobs.
We are also continuing to push our previously announced GST rebate policy which would refund up to $100,000 of GST paid by businesses in the six months before the lockdown if their revenue has been severely affected.
Small businesses that soldier on and create jobs will be the heroes of this economic crisis in the way that our nurses, doctors and other essential workers were the heroes of the health crisis.
Our JobStart and GST rebate policies aims to give them greater confidence to hire new people.
Our small businesses in Pakuranga and thousands more across the country were starved of revenue during the lockdown and many are still struggling under current restrictions.
They are desperate for cash flow and these payments could alleviate some of the pressure they’re facing while also supporting growth and saving jobs.
A National government’s focus would be squarely on the economy that you live in – your community, your job, your main street, your local business.
This is the economy that matters most to New Zealanders and is the one our National team is grounded in.
We are facing the biggest economic crisis in a generation. These policies are an important part of our plan to get New Zealand’s economic recovery underway.
National has always been the Party of small business. It’s where we come from. And it is small business, with our help, who will rebuild New Zealand after Covid-19.
Simeon Brown
MP for Pakuranga
