John -
Friday’s leadership change, difficult though it was, has given the
National Party the opportunity to reclaim the agenda four months out
from the General Election.
We’ve had a contest. Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye succeeded.
It’s been tough, especially for Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett,
who have been great servants of the party and the country. We honour
their contribution.
Now we look forward, with an absolute focus on winning in
September. So much is at stake.
Our party has a team that offers New Zealand families and
communities the experience and management skills to make the right
decisions.
And I have every confidence Todd Muller is very well equipped to
lead that team. He’s had a great start; calm and assured.
Much depends on how New Zealand is governed and led these next
three years.
Thousands of jobs have been lost and tens of thousands more will
be. Excessive restrictions over the coming months could heavily
compound the pain.
While extra debt is unavoidable, good economic management will
reduce the height of the mountain, and the tax burden our young people
will face.
For New Zealand to succeed in the post-Covid world we need a growth
plan and a government that can deliver it.
Todd has been right to acknowledge the government’s handling of the
Covid19 health crisis. But the coming crisis is an economic one.
It requires different skills and a strong team.
National has a plan to get New Zealand working again. We will
deliver on that plan. And we will never lose sight of our commitment
to responsible economic management.
We’ve argued that to reduce the damage and the job losses we needed
to get cash into the hands of small businesses. We argued strongly
for a GST refund up of to $100,000. Despite the billions cast about in
the Budget, Labour didn’t listen.
So, what’s National’s plan?
We’ll focus on opening up the economy, to get New Zealand working
productively again. We will not start by saying everything should be
closed unless the Government says it can be open. Instead, everything
should be open unless there is good reason for it to be closed.
We’ll have an absolute focus on safely restoring the international
education industry and opening the Trans-Tasman bubble.
We will not to increase taxes. National dug ourselves out of the
$50 billion hole caused by the Global Finance Crisis and Canterbury
earthquakes without new taxes. It took discipline and a focus on
growth. We will do it again.
We’ll unlock new business investment to drive growth and create
jobs. The whole point of economic policy is to raise wages, but a
government that increases the minimum wage in the middle of a
lockdown, when firms have no revenue, has no idea. National will
reduce regulation, allow businesses to write off new investment
instantly and free up inward investment from overseas.
We’ll launch the largest infrastructure programme in our
history.
We’ll invest in skills and technology so New Zealand succeeds in
the post-Covid world. It’s easy to announce $1.6 billion for
apprentices, as the Budget did, but it’s the same government that has
turned the trades training sector upside down in a massive and
expensive restructuring.
Announcements are easy, it’s the delivery that counts.
There’s more to come. New Zealand will get through Covid19
economic downturn – but how fast and how strong we emerge will be
affected greatly by the decisions made in the Beehive over the next
three years.
National Party passions ran high this week. But that’s because
everyone’s economic security is at stake.
Kind regards,
Paul Goldsmith http://paulgoldsmith.national.org.nz/
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