What to expect in an election year

Our decision makers need to start thinking about both the long-term future New Zealand and the current challenges and issues we face today.

The Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce - the largest and most influential business association in the South Island - is gearing up to use our collective voice on behalf of 2,700 employers and 70,000 employees throughout the region to encourage political parties, and the next government, whatever it might look like in whichever way shape or form, to address the short- and long-term solutions to address the topics outlined above.

Many of these topics are preventing Canterbury and the business community from reaching its full potential.

We are unashamedly ambitious about the future of our region and we want to see a thriving business community operating in a stable economy that is predictable and conducive to growth.

We want to see businesses being encouraged to innovate, to increase their productivity and to ultimately grow. At the moment that’s not quite the case and no one is particularly happy about that.

In the first two months of the year we received a new Prime Minister, witnessed reshuffles across the major political parties, and the battle ground is starting to heat up with clear issues emerging.

Curbing inflation, recovering the economy, fixing our broken infrastructure and planning ambitiously for the future of our country are at the top of the list for the business community, and for many households, as the cost of living becomes more and more unsustainable.

Inflation is a big problem and we expect the majority of the political debate this year to focus on reigning this in. Inflation is driving up the cost of everything and unfortunately, without addressing productivity at the same time, we run a risk of getting stuck in an inflation spiral where everything just keeps on going up and up.

Part of the responsibility lies with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who are mandated to keep it under control, and part of it is the responsibility of the government to address.

Pumping huge amounts of money into the economy will always have consequences. Part of it, also, is due to international pressures. We can’t do much about that.

Recovering the economy has become a pressing – and complicated – need. The restrictive COVID-19 environment stalled the economy and now we are paying for it; it was always going to happen.

The missing part of the puzzle is a plan to fix it.

In the short term, that means addressing the immediate pressures that businesses are facing.

Labour market shortages are not going anywhere anytime soon. It’s a global phenomenon and we are competing globally for staff. Domestically, we simply don’t have enough people to fill vacancies and industries are facing skills gaps that just cannot be filled.

Much of this is set by government policy – particularly relating to immigration, and requires a response in that area, and it also requires more long-term solutions and workforce planning.

Equipping the next generation of workers with the right skills is fundamentally important –and it’s fundamentally difficult when truancy levels are the highest they have ever been. Infrastructure is another big one. Three Waters immediately comes to mind, but it’s not just about that. Aotearoa New Zealand, thanks to our size, is trapped in a situation where we start building once it becomes necessary to build. We don’t build in anticipation of it being needed further down the track.

Long-term future planning to ensure we are investing in our infrastructure before it is desperately needed is essential.

The fourth priority at the top of the list is an ambitious plan for New Zealand. We are all proud of our country and want to achieve our best. We’ve never really lost that pioneering spirit that New Zealand was founded on, but it does seem to be dwindling and frankly, some of the current policy settings are responsible for this – making it much more difficult and not providing the right environment to encourage and support innovation.

Businesses are what make this country tick – they are at the centre of our economy and finance the majority of policy implementation throughout the country.

Without a productive economy that is performing well, New Zealand does not perform well and our communities and the people within them don’t do so well either.

When businesses succeed, our wider community flourishes. When businesses have the flexibility and agility to employ more staff, to increase productivity, and to invest back into the community as so many of you do, Canterbury thrives. It’s difficult to disagree with that.

Many of you will have similar expectations and there will be policies that you want to see a future government implement whether it related to economic growth, removing barriers you experience in your day-to-day life, or improving an aspect of our community.

The chamber would love to hear from you, whether it’s directly related to business or not, as we use our collective voice to influence decisions makers to create better outcomes for not just the business community, but the Canterbury community as a whole.

Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce 0800 50 50 96 www.thechamber.co.nz CT