OPINION | Only National can get New Zealand back on track: Kanwaljit Bakshi

Your party vote for National will change New Zealand’s future and get New Zealand back on track because Judith Collins and National have a strong economic plan that will grow the economy and create jobs.

National’s Economic and Fiscal Plan will put more money into Kiwis’ back pockets, while encouraging businesses to invest and create jobs.

We will provide a 16 month temporary cut to income tax that will put money in millions of New Zealanders’ pockets – stimulating our economy and getting people back to work. Our plan will carefully balance investment in infrastructure and core public services with reducing tax pressure on Kiwi families and businesses.

We will deliver a stronger economy, world-class infrastructure and less government debt. We will back our businesses to create new jobs with policies like JobStart and BusinessStart. We won’t load cost onto them as Labour proposes to do. Our plan is fully costed and comprehensive. That has been independently verified by the NZIER.

National will give our businesses the confidence to invest and grow to create more jobs. We will better support the manufacturing sector. National will reduce taxes, slash costs and upskill the workforce to support the manufacturing sector, which accounts for nearly 10 per cent of all jobs in the economy and more than half of New Zealand’s exports. We need all parts of our economy firing on all cylinders.

Our manufacturing policy will:

• Lower taxes on investment
• Create more manufacturing jobs
• Ensure better industry training
• Ensure fairer competition
• Grow our technology sector
• Ensure a secure and affordable supply of energy
• Better mental health support for businesses

Under National, manufacturers will benefit from bold pro-growth policies such as:

• Double depreciation rates on investments in plant, equipment and machinery;
• Allowing instant asset write-offs for investments up to $150,000;
• Expanding 90 day trials for all businesses;
• Providing a $10,000 incentive for manufacturing businesses who hire additional staff through JobStart;
• Strengthen trades training by ensuring it is led by industry not the Government; and
• Ensuring Government agencies follow procurement rules more rigorously.

Labour have relentlessly added costs and red tape, and made it harder for our manufacturers to compete in global markets. Under Labour, the sector contracted for the first time in seven years even before COVID-19 hit.

National’s plan will support our critical manufacturing sector by encouraging investment, reducing costs for manufacturing businesses, reducing taxes and making it easier for businesses to hire new staff.

The next National Government will return to our previous record of creating 10,000 jobs a month – a number that had fallen under Labour to 2,000 to 3,000 jobs per month, pre-COVID – and get unemployment tracking towards 4 per cent by 2025.