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Election 2026: National reveals new economic policy amid business concerns
🇳🇿 New Zealand /Elections & Politics

Election 2026: National reveals new economic policy amid business concerns

From NZ Herald · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • National Party leaders Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis will unveil a new economic policy on Saturday.
  • The policy aims to address concerns from businesses after a difficult week for the party.
  • Labour has also announced new policies targeting small businesses, including a target for government contracts.

National Party leaders Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis are set to release a new economic policy on Saturday, aiming to move past a challenging week that included Luxon dismissing business concerns. The announcement will be made at a press conference in Parliament.

The new economic policy is not expected to be as extensive as the party's previous major announcement in June, which proposed making KiwiSaver compulsory for all workers. That earlier policy also included provisions for enrolling newborns into KiwiSaver, providing contributions during paid parental leave, and requiring employers to maintain contributions for employees over 65.

While Christopher Luxon insults small businesses and asks, ‘who cares what the Government thinks’, we’re listening to small businesses and making government work better for them.

— Barbara EdmondsLabour's finance spokeswoman criticizing National Party leader Christopher Luxon's stance on small businesses.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has also unveiled additional policies focused on small businesses. These include setting a target for 15% of government contracts to be awarded to small businesses and breaking down larger contracts into smaller jobs where feasible. Labour also plans to improve information sharing between agencies to reduce the burden on businesses and task Inland Revenue with reviewing provisional tax and filing requirements.

Labour's finance spokeswoman, Barbara Edmonds, criticized Luxon's earlier remarks, stating, "While Christopher Luxon insults small businesses and asks, ‘who cares what the Government thinks’, we’re listening to small businesses and making government work better for them." The party has previously announced measures such as increasing the asset write-off threshold from $1,000 to $10,000. Luxon had previously told businesses they were taking a "negative view" of economic conditions, comments for which he later apologized, acknowledging he "didn’t properly acknowledge the challenges that many small business owners are facing."

didn’t properly acknowledge the challenges that many small business owners are facing

— Christopher LuxonLuxon's apology for his previous remarks to business owners.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by NZ Herald in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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