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Advocacy for business by the BusinessNZ Network | |
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The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) supports actions by Transpower to allow hydro operators to access more water in their dams, and new commercial arrangements between Methanex and generators to provide gas to the electricity system, as useful short-term initiatives to help address the current energy squeeze. Longer term, achieving energy security will require a bipartisan Energy Strategy, developed in conjunction with industry, that enables the production of many fuels including gas within a clear and consistent regulatory environment, BEC says. | | | |
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Manufacturing improvement |
The manufacturing sector showed small signs of improvement in the latest BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). The PMI for July was 44 (a PMI reading above 50 indicates that manufacturing is expanding; below 50 that it is declining), showing that last month the manufacturing sector was still contracting, but at a slightly lower rate than in previous months, an indication that it will take time for inflation to subside further to generate expansion in the manufacturing sector. | | | |
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While general inflation may now be easing, inflation caused by local government is still increasing rapidly – since 2017 inflation in council rates has overtaken general inflation, and rates are now the fastest-rising component of the CPI. This matters to business because businesses pay more than a third of all rates paid, in many places paying 2-3 times more than domestic ratepayers. Despite this, councils are failing to provide infrastructure needed by business, to the detriment of growth, and funding reform is urgently needed, according to BusinessNZ and the Local Govt Business Forum. | | | |
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Certainty for contracting |
BusinessNZ supports work currently under way by the Workplace Relations & Safety Minister to remove ambiguity in employment law that is undermining contracting. Definitions in the Employment Relations Act are being clarified to better distinguish between employees and contractors. “Contracting has always been an important part of the way we work in NZ, significant infrastructure development depends on contract work, and new forms of work such as platform work definitely depend on contractors - contracting is a valid tool for business and we’d be happy if our laws reflected that,” BusinessNZ’s Catherine Beard says. | | | |
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Business sentiment survey |
Business owners and managers are invited to participate in the 2024 BusinessNZ Business Sentiment Survey. The survey asks about enterprises’ plans for capital and IT expenditure in the coming year, and seeks their views on business issues including corporate tax, resource management and consenting, infrastructure and staffing. The survey seeks respondents' ranking of their top 5 concerns that are affecting business confidence. The findings will be published in AdvocacyUpdate on 30 August. Please take part in the survey here. | | | |
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Business & climate conference |
Business delegates are invited to attend this year’s major Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland 9-10 Sept. International speakers, business leaders, scientists and others will address topics including decarbonising the supply chain, competing for climate capital, disruptive climate tech, methane reductions, public-private collaboration, embedding low emissions in new infrastructure, and learning from weather events. Politicians will also take part in a cross-party response to climate adaptation. Registrations close 3 Sept. You can register for the conference here. | | | |
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AdvocacyUpdate is an update on recent activity & advocacy by the BusinessNZ Network | |
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