“After the disastrous decision made by the Green government over the past two terms, it’s vital that New Zealand makes economic growth an absolute priority. If elected to govern New Zealand once again, National will restore the rockstar economy of Sir John Key. Rather than enabling militant unions to sabotage productivity and rip money from the pockets of hard working entrepreneurs and business owners, National will foster a business-friendly environment to allow all of New Zealand to prosper. Instead of shutting off a third of our country’s landmass to economic development, New Zealand will prioritise the interests of people over plants. And that doesn’t mean unfettered growth or exploitation of resources - that doesn’t benefit people either. But the tree-hugging attitude of those on the left would have a better standard of living for flax and ferns than it would for real Kiwis.

“Firstly, National will change New Zealand’s employment law to encourage job growth and place power in the hands of people, not militant unions. The greatest enemy of the unemployed are the unions which erect barriers to employment, by taking more than their fair share from employers and leaving nothing for those who don’t currently have a job. We’ll restore 90 day trials to allow employers to give new prospective employees a chance, and we’ll bring back the youth wage to encourage youth employment. We’ll amend restricted trading days to give employees a chance to work and employers a chance to turn a profit, thus ending the imposition of religious tradition on Kiwi businesses and workers. We will expand the usage of the New Zealand Business Number to reduce red tape and make it more efficient for firms to do business and deal with the government. We’ll also work to improve competition in the marketplace by passing legislation to allow the Commerce Commission to conduct competition inquiries, allowing for better policy to address market failures.

“We’ll also introduce a tax stimulus package, involving tax cuts for middle income earners and a uniform, lower business tax rate. We’ll cut personal income taxes by $200m at least, and we’ll return the flat corporate tax in order to encourage growth and improve tax efficiency. We’ll also work to repeal the capital gains tax implemented by the Green government, which hurts rural landholders, decreases access to credit, and stifles development of property. We’ll liberalise controls over foreign investment by implementing a risk based model, as we recognise the economic growth, jobs, and lower prices brought by investment into our economy. National will investigate bringing a regulatory system for open banking to New Zealand, similar to the UK. This would improve competition in the banking industry and would mean higher quality financial services for Kiwis. We’ll look to reform the Reserve Bank of New Zealand by placing more power in the hands of the board, rather than the Governor, and will amend their objectives to allow for the management rather than reduction of risk.

“As for our primary sector, National will work to reduce the burden placed on firms by the previous Green government. We’ll promote water capture and irrigation projects to improve agricultural productivity and reduce risk, alongside environmental improvement by flushing out excess algae. We’ll put forward a partial privatisation of Landcorp to open up land for agricultural and economic development, and use the proceeds to pay for infrastructure projects. We will repeal the first part of the Environmental Protection Act and open up land for resource extraction upon the consent of the government. These policies will work to grow the economy, reduce employment, and provide better services and prices to Kiwi consumers. On the other hand, the Greens are more concerned with pandering to the far left rather than the issues of regular Kiwis. I know who I’d choose.”