Don’t risk 70,000 job losses under Labour
Labour’s Fast-track confusion is putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk and Kiwis deserve answers now, National’s Infrastructure spokesman Chris Bishop says.
“Up and down New Zealand, National’s Fast-track scheme is delivering thousands of new construction sector jobs to regions who need it,” Mr Bishop says.
“The 37 projects approved through Fast-track are expected to support around 70,000 jobs, many of those in the construction sector, based on economic assessments in the applications. These are all at risk under Labour.
“Labour has tried to cancel these projects before. It tried to remove 19 of these projects from the Bill while they were progressing through Parliament, which are expected to support around 50,000 of these jobs.
“Chris Hipkins told media last week: ‘We’ve already set out our position on Fast-track … which is Rachel Brooking has actually already typed up and published the amendments that we’ll make to it’. If that’s true, then based on what Labour has published, its policy is still to scrap these 19 projects and their 50,000 jobs.
“Chris Hipkins needs to front up. Which Fast-track projects would Labour stop, and how many jobs would be lost? What actually is their Fast-track policy? Will voters see it before election day? Kiwis deserve to know.
“This is yet another example of the risk that Labour presents to New Zealand’s economy and people’s livelihoods.
“Nobody invests in a project that the next government might tear up halfway through. Builders, engineers, and other tradies don’t get hired for projects that could be cancelled. That means thousands of Kiwis could be out of a job under Labour.
“A Labour coalition with Chloe Swarbrick as Finance Minister will destroy our economy, put jobs at risk, spend recklessly, hike debt and raise nine new taxes.
“Kiwis have worked too hard to get the economy moving again to put it all at risk. A party vote for National is a vote to protect jobs. Stick with the plan that’s working.”
Notes to editors:
List of Fast-track projects at risk under Labour HERE
In September, Labour’s Environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking told a private audience that Labour is open to reviewing projects already approved through Fast-track: “We're not going to revoke projects that have been approved. We’ve always said that we will leave the door open for reviewing them, in the same way that you can review consents under the RMA... we will release very detailed policy on the fast track, but what we have been saying consistently is when there is a big significant environmental effect that comes to a ministers attention, they should be able to review what those environmental implications are…”
Last week, Labour MP Damien O’Connor went further, saying a Labour government would step into a live, independent expert panel process and shut it down: “We haven’t said we would stop it going ahead, we’ve said we’ll stop the fast-track process. This needs to be looked at thoroughly.”
Chris Hipkins’ full quote from last week: “We’ve already set out our position on Fast-track, so we’ve set out exactly what we’re going to be doing there, which is Rachel Brooking has actually already typed up and published the amendments that we’ll make to it.”
