But they must hire additional staff
Wellington, June 4, 2020
All New Zealanders have had to make sacrifices over the past few months as the Covid-19 pandemic tipped our world upside down.
Our small businesses in particular have shouldered a significant amount of the economic pain in order to abide by the lockdown rules.
At time of writing, with no new Covid-19 cases for 13 days straight, it is time for New Zealand to start moving forward. We need to get on with the job of rebuilding our economy.
We understand the task the next Government will have to undertake is immense and we do not take this lightly.
But we have the team and the experience to get the job done. In fact we have already started rolling out our plan to create jobs and grow the economy.
JobStart Package
Last week we announced our JobStart package which will provide a $10,000 cash payment to businesses that hire additional staff.
It would begin on November 1, 2020 and run for the remaining five months of the financial year through to 31 March 2021, incentivising up to 50,000 new jobs.
Small business owners who create jobs will be the heroes of this economic crisis, in the way that our nurses, doctors and all five million of us who stayed home were the heroes of the health crisis.
JobStart aims to give small business owners greater confidence to hire new people.
Thousands of small businesses across the country were starved of revenue during the lockdown and many are still struggling under Level 2 restrictions.
Cashflow problem intensifies
They are desperate for cash flow and this payment could alleviate some of the pressure they are facing while also supporting growth.
A payment of $10,000 could make an enormous difference to the hundreds of thousands of small businesses New Zealand is home to.
National is committed to saving jobs and growing our economy.
We will achieve this by leveraging our country’s great strengths which are our people, our communities, our natural resources, and our values of hard work, tenacity, innovation and aspiration.
Focus on the economy
Our focus is on the economy, but it is the economy that you live in, your community, your job, your main street, your marae, your tourism business.
This is the economy in which our National team is grounded, and the one that matters most to New Zealand.
We are facing the biggest economic crisis in a generation. JobStart is one important part of our plan to get New Zealand’s economic recovery underway.
National has always been the Party of small business. It is where we come from. And it is small business, with our help, that will rebuild New Zealand after Covid-19.
Dr Parmjeet Parmar is Member of Parliament on National’s List for Mount Roskill and the Party’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson.
