The EMA today congratulated the successful candidates in the 2023 general election and urged the three parties likely to form the new government to move with urgency to finalise governing arrangements.

EMA Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says now that the vote count had been finalised, it was important to get the new government sworn in and moving to deliver the change that voters and business expected.

"The message from business is clear. We look forward to the new government led by Christopher Luxon getting down to work quickly to start addressing the challenges we are facing as a country," says O’Riley.

"The EMA, as part of the BusinessNZ Network, is ready to roll up its sleeves and get down to work alongside the new government and help New Zealand realise its potential.

"It is the business community that will drive our economic recovery, creating the high-paying jobs, paying the taxes, and making the productivity gains that are needed to lift our living standards," says O’Riley.

"But to achieve this, we need the new government to back business to succeed and deliver policy that rebuilds confidence in the economy and encourages investment, innovation and entrepreneurship.

"Simply out, we need to make it easier to do business in New Zealand by removing unnecessary red tape and that is holding business back.

"That means creating the right incentives to encourage investment into our productive economy, from both domestic and foreign investors. We need to invest in new infrastructure, address areas of ongoing skills shortages, and improve the flexibility of the labour market.

"This includes relooking at our resource management legislation so that we make it easier to build things in New Zealand, scrapping Fair Pay Agreements which reduce flexibility in our workplaces, and resetting our immigration agency so that it is acting more like a national recruitment agency than a gatekeeper."

O’Riley says despite the challenges the country faces, the future can be bright if we get the policy settings right.

"The opportunity of New Zealand is enormous. We are blessed with natural resources, inventiveness, an educated workforce, and fantastic trade relationships.

With the right policy settings, we can unleash the potential of our business sector so that it drives our economic recovery and lift the living standards of all New Zealanders. The EMA and its members stand ready to support the new government to deliver this potential."

© Scoop Media