Business NZ Wails Over ACC Levy Increases, Ignores Australian Private Insurance Crisis

“The annual wail by Business NZ over proposed ACC levy increases ignores the plea by Australia’s Minister of Small Business to introduce ACC there,” Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Business NZ today called for ACC to use its reserves to subsidise levy increases caused by lower interest rates.

“Business NZ should look across the Tasman at the escalating private insurance premiums which employers there are facing,” Ross Wilson said. “Small Business Minister Joe Hockley has been begging for a public fund scheme like ACC.

“Sadly, this is an example of Business NZ never being satisfied,” he said

“New Zealand employers already have the cheapest accident insurance levies in the world for the cover and entitlements provided, yet they still demand further cuts.

“The Business NZ statement also displays an apparent ignorance of the innovative safety incentive systems which ACC has recently put in place,” Ross Wilson said.

“Experience has shown that the employer rhetoric about improved safety is rather hollow,” he said

“All they really want is ever-cheaper levies, even if that is at the expense of safety, rehabilitation and compensation.”

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