- By Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Pakuranga-based ACT List MP
I’ve visited Pakuranga Plaza for many years now, buying groceries, gifts, or dinner.
And I often think the Plaza and surrounding shops are a reflection of Auckland and New Zealand’s wider challenges.
Business has been slow at the Plaza for a number of years. It’s sad to see shops I used to frequently shop at now shut.
While some business has been lost to Sylvia Park and online shopping, I believe there will always be demand for local, face-to-face retail.
But the most pressing challenge facing Pakuranga Plaza is the same one that faces businesses and households across the country: Working people just don’t have enough money left over to provide regular business to their favourite shops and restaurants.
The previous Government borrowed and printed about $100 billion as part of the Covid-19 response.
The result was inflation. Money flowing into the economy provided a temporary sugar high, but it was not backed up by real productivity.
More money chasing the same amount of goods and services meant prices steadily rose to the point where households now face a cost of living crisis.
The independent Reserve Bank has responded to inflation by increasing interest rates.
Anyone with a mortgage will understand how that impacts the weekly budget, necessitating difficult sacrifices at the grocery store, and in our budgets for dining out and buying the nice-to-haves.
The way out of this crisis is not easy, but the good news is we are now on the right track.
We have a coalition Government willing to make the responsible decisions that households paying the bills have already been making.
In Wellington, the news is dominated by cuts to public spending.
ACT has been leading the charge to reduce back-office waste, focusing precious taxpayer funds on essential frontline services.
Reining in Government spending is key to reducing inflation.
With less public money splashing around the economy, the Reserve Bank will be less inclined to keep mortgage rates high.
And in the coming months and years, we should expect to see interest rates drop, meaning you are left with more money in your pocket to spend at local shopping centres like Pakuranga Plaza.
That is how we return to the path of real economic activity, real productivity, and vibrant local centres.
