Hon Max Bradford
Minister for Enterprise and Commerce

Media Release
November 4, 1999

Cullen’s Field of Dreams

Company decisions to move to or leave New Zealand are influenced by a range of factors, Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford said today.

“Factors such as:

 Low tax rates, which National will lower further and Labour will increase;
 Flexible labour markets, which National has provided and Labour will unionise and make rigid,
 Low inflation,
 Lower business costs, which National will lower further and Labour will increase,
 The lowest interest rates in more than 30 years and,
 Low numbers of strike days, which won’t stay low under the Labour-Alliance bloc.

Mr Bradford was commenting after political grandstanding by Labour finance spokesman Michael Cullen over an Auckland software firm’s decision to relocate across the Tasman.

“National has provided the fundamentals which will lead to 10 per cent growth and 115,000 new jobs in the next three years.

“Underpinning this is our $223 million Bright Future package which is the Government's action plan to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

"Thousands of new scholarships, the New Economy Research Fund, the incubator programme and the expansion of Technology NZ, coupled with improvements in access to finance and the promotion of e-commerce, will spearhead our efforts to make New Zealand the best country to live and do business in.
“In contrast, Labour is offering higher costs and red tape, which will be a wet blanket on the economy and job growth,” Mr Bradford said.

ENDS

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