Simon Power National Industrial Relations Spokesperson

13 November 2001

Govt continues to shackle business

The Labour-Alliance Government's bid to promote itself as business friendly is failing miserably, says National's Industrial Relations spokesperson Simon Power.

"In the last two weeks it has piled more pieces of reform on to a long list of legislation which is already shackling employers. Along with draconian health and safety laws, we've now got a selective parental leave scheme, messy debate over union registration and a push for an extra week's annual leave.

"When you add to this the restless environment already created by the Employment Relations Act, and the changes to ACC earlier this year, employers are left struggling.

"Business needs certainty. It doesn't need crippling costs and crumbling confidence. All this does is undermine the two things business needs most - stability and low compliance costs.

"This Government has held itself up as business-friendly. But introducing one piece of detrimental legislation after another is hardly going to win the business community over," Simon Power said.

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