Don’t Kill The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs

Doom Merchants Wrong – Don’t Kill The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs

“We must not kill the geese that lay the golden eggs,” New Zealand Employers’ Federation Chief Executive, Steve Marshall said today.

“The next government must continue the good policy work of the past few years. Any moves to repeal the Employment Contracts Act (ECA), renationalise ACC, or crank up tax rates, as some opposition parties propose, will stall economic and employment growth in its tracks.

“Reducing workplace flexibility and local co-operation and increasing costs facing the business sector is not particularly smart,” he said.

Mr Marshall was commenting on the latest Household Labour Force Survey, the official measure of employment and unemployment in New Zealand. The survey shows that we now have 26,000 more full-time jobs than last year, taking employment to the highest level ever. Unemployment has declined yet again to 6.8%.

‘The doom and gloom merchants are wrong. While still too high, New Zealand’s unemployment rate is clearly falling. It compares very favourably with many other countries’. For example Germany has an unemployment rate of 10.5%, France 11.3%, and Spain 15.9%. The rise in full-time employment shows that the economy is gaining momentum.

“We cannot afford to be complacent. My key concern now is that the gains can be so easily frittered away through politically motivated, unsound policy decisions.

“Helen Clark’s vision of 3% unemployment within 3 years would be more realistic under present policy settings – but it is hopelessly out of reach if Labour, Alliance and the Greens maintain their current policies to repeal the ECA, reverse the ACC reforms and raise taxes.

“In effect they threaten to kill the geese that are laying the golden eggs,” Mr Marshall concluded.

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