“New Zealand businesses still don’t have sector-specific guidance for Alert Level 2, despite the possibility that it is only a few days away”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Although the Government provided generic advice this afternoon, specific guidance for each sector is still being developed by MBIE and WorkSafe.

“The Epidemic Response Committee heard today from private sector organisations that MBIE has not been consulting with them on the rules for Alert Level 2. That is deeply concerning.

“What has the Government been doing for the past few weeks? Businesspeople will need more than 48 hours to prepare themselves for Alert Level 2.

“New Zealanders are none the wiser about what criteria the Government will use to move down an Alert Level.

“Asked this afternoon about what would keep New Zealand at Alert Level 3, the Prime Minister said a fresh outbreak of cases.

“But how many cases? From what sources? How will the health risks be balanced against the economic harm?

“At this point, it’s no longer good enough simply to say that the Government is balancing health and economic risks. The public deserves to know how it is balancing the risks.

“The Government either doesn’t know or won’t say how it intends to make the decision to move from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2.

“Openness and transparency are essential for businesspeople trying to make decisions.

“In the absence of transparency, it’s difficult to avoid the suspicion the Government doesn’t know how it will make its decision on Monday.”

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