14 May 2019

The Government has been caught out making up an entire work programme in answer to plummeting business confidence, Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges says.

“Last year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a business audience that business confidence ‘was not the elephant in the room, it's a flashing great neon sign with giant lights and fireworks going off behind it’.

“In answer to this, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson launched the ‘Business Partnership Agenda’ which they said ‘brings together the strands of this Government’s economic strategy’.

“Since then the Prime Minister and her Finance Minister haven’t mentioned the agenda once. Not in a speech, a press release or even a tweet.

“The website hasn’t been updated since it was launched. It still lists the Chief Technology Officer as a Government initiative, despite the idea being axed in September last year. Eleven of the website links on the page don’t even work.

“This is a Government with no economic plan which is slowing New Zealand down. The Business Partnership Agenda was clearly made up on the hoof and then forgotten about after the daily news cycle. As usual, all talk, no action.

“If this is how the Government treats the business community – it’s no wonder confidence is so low. It’s stayed at rock bottom levels since the August speech. The Prime Minister and Grant Robertson need to explain what’s happened to its Business Partnership Agenda so businesses can start to have some confidence again.”

A link to the Government’s Business Partnership Agenda can be found HERE

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