Small Business

New Zealand First supports all aspects of small business. They are the backbone of growth, employment, and community in our country and New Zealand First believes that government should support them. The COVID-19 crisis hit small businesses the hardest, making them more vulnerable than during and after the Global Financial Crisis. That is why we believe government should be at the forefront of ensuring it is doing everything it can to support small businesses in becoming profitable once again. Providing opportunity and incentive to grow and improve productivity.

Policy:

• Continue to support the nation-wide roll-out of ultra-fast broadband and support initiatives for electronic learning and upskilling of vocational skills
• Redefine small to medium enterprise from 19 employees to 50 full-time equivalent staff
• Negotiate for the full reinstatement of the 90 day trial programme or at least expand its reach to more small businesses.
• Provide further support for business linked internships helping bridge the gap between industry and training
• Investigate the feasibility of a digital CV scheme to help employers and job-seekers during the hiring process
• Continue to streamline the tax exemptions so that they are simplified
• Convene a cluster to establish once and for all what the ‘red tape’ challenges are that hold all small businesses back and then work to remove them
• Assist with the cost of staff training and apprenticeships in the workplace

Tourism

New Zealand First believes that our tourism industry is an essential export earner and as such its ongoing survival is critical post COVID-19. 

To that end, while in government New Zealand First has and will continue to ensure that resources and funding are focused on the growth of domestic tourism. We are also committed to ensuring we can safely allow the return of international visitors.

We recognise that tourism is the livelihood of many New Zealanders and believe there is more to be done in helping Kiwi’s understand the career prospects and pathways in this exciting industry. That is why New Zealand First will continue to support initiatives such as the ‘Go with Tourism’ programme. New Zealanders must be put first when businesses are looking to employ. However, as we have already said, where we need foreign labour we will make every endeavour to ensure there are clear pathways to access foreign expertise. Some examples of this are those who work seasonally in rafting or ski fields.  

It is also important to acknowledge that environmental policy and the success of our tourism industry are closely related. It is clear that businesses benefit from our environment when it is healthy and sustainable. New Zealand’s environment gives us a strong competitive advantage over the rest of the world. Because of this, New Zealand First commits to ensuring that any efforts to grow the tourism industry must work in tandem with sustainable environmental policies. Doing this will have implications on productivity, but works toward the important focus of increasing beneficial long-term revenue as opposed to only aiming to increase the number of tourists coming into the country.

New Zealand First will work with the industry and ensure that funding remains at the levels required to maintain good industry outcomes. 

Goals

• Utilise tourism to support thriving and sustainable regions
• Explore ways to improve productivity within the tourism industry
• Help New Zealand deliver exceptional visitor experiences
• Use tourism to protect, restore and champion New Zealand’s natural environment, culture and heritage
• Work towards tourism improving the lives of New Zealanders

Employment

In post-COVID New Zealand support for Kiwis to retain or regain employment will be vital. New Zealand First has always believed in the safety net of social welfare but also understands the desire of all Kiwis to have the mana of honest employment. Some members of our society will require more support than others to gain and retain employment – we need a system that acknowledges that and has the levers to provide that support locally. New Zealand First also recognises that members of our disabled community want to work and so we will provide better support to both the employer and employee to realise this aspiration. 

Policy:

• Negotiate for the full reinstatement of the 90 day trial programme or at least expand its reach to more small businesses. 
• Re-establish Careers New Zealand as a separate entity but widen its target demographic to cover all New Zealanders regardless of age – currently no agency has responsibility for careers advice after secondary school – Careers New Zealand would assume this responsibility
• Extend funding and professional development around career advice and job transition for librarians across New Zealand so they can better support their community, regardless of age or employment status, with employment and training advice
• Enhance local workforce development councils and industry workforce planning to better target financial support for on and off job training
• Through greater focus on and investment in both local and nationwide skills needs minimise the importation of labour
• Streamline and target apprenticeship financial support to ensure a continual stream of skilled workers in New Zealand key industries as these change and grow to minimise reliance on imported skilled workers
• Reinstate Workbridge as the primary employment agency for Kiwis who are differently abled and resource them to provide the appropriate level of pastoral support to both the employee and employer
• Ensure the support put in place for the “newly unemployed” due to COVID-19 continue in both urban and rural communities to address the change in the future of work identified pre-COVID
• Actively set up a seniors employment plan and support uptake of the employers toolkit for nature workers 

Racing

The New Zealand racing industry faced an unprecedented challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning we faced the threat of losing an integral part of our Kiwi economic wealth and lifestyle. In three short years New Zealand First has championed racing as we recognise that losing the industry would be devastating for both our economy, and the regions it actively contributes to. If our racing industry is to go beyond COVID relief packages and remain internationally renowned, recognising that now is the time for support, planning and collaboration to be paramount. New Zealand First is committed to supporting our racing industry and will continue to make the contribution it brings to our country known.

Policy:

• Complete implementation of Racing Legislation passed in this term of Government
• Complete where appropriate the recommendations of Messara Report and continue consultation with all stakeholders
• Complete the construction of the Cambridge, Awapuni and Riccarton all weather tracks
• Recognise the regional economic potential of the Racing sector and support initiatives to enable its growth
• Work with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to develop export channels and opportunities

Immigration

New Zealand First believes that everyone living in New Zealand legally should be entitled to the same legal rights no matter how long their time in New Zealand has been.  

The size and suddenness of the pandemic has shaken the global economy - and as an open economy New Zealand is profoundly affected.  The end of the crisis is not in view yet but immigration, along with other aspects of the economy, will need a fundamental rethink.  New Zealand has had one of the fastest growing populations in the developed world because of high rates of immigration well above natural population increase.  There has been an immediate and dramatic drop in immigration as borders closed due to the pandemic.  But it is also becoming apparent that the scale of immigration that fed headline economic growth in both Australia and New Zealand now belongs to another era.  

New Zealand First is committed to a rigorous and strictly applied immigration policy that serves New Zealand’s interests. Immigration should not be used as a source of cheap labour to undermine New Zealanders’ pay and conditions. COVID-19 has presented a unique opportunity to reset New Zealand’s immigration policy settings, ensuring that they put New Zealanders first. 

There will be briefly a vacuum that essential workers must fill, with overseas seasonal workers until substitute training or retraining of New Zealander’s has occurred.   

Policy:

• Ensure that Kiwi workers are at the front of the job queue
• Guarantee that immigration policy is based on New Zealand’s interests such as meeting critical skill gaps 
• Maintain parent category visa cap at 1000 and ensure that sponsors can adequately support and fund their family during and after migration 
• Continue to develop strategies that encourage regionally dispersed immigration so that it lessens the burden on already overloaded urban cities
• Investigate a ‘skills of absolute shortage’ visa category to replace the incumbent skills shortage list 
• Ensure that regionalised skills shortage lists reflect and are consistent with COVID-19 recovery efforts
• Introduce a ‘rural visa scheme’ that will apply to communities of less than 100,000 residents, while placing into law an obligation for migrants to stay in their specified place of settlement until they have secured permanent residency

Population Plan:

• Have a nationwide review to set a 30 year ‘Population Plan’ to gain a majority view on the level of future population numbers. This will enable government to plan infrastructure with consideration for natural population growth, immigration, and attrition via death or emigration