Labour fails to tackle regulation full-on
The Government is failing to tackle the hard issues of business regulation, says National's Commerce spokesman, Simon Power.
He is commenting on the second Milestone report on the Quality Regulation Review in which Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel claimed Labour was 'fast-tracking solutions to regulatory issues raised wherever feasible'.
"The Minister is fast-tracking solutions, alright, but she is fast-tracking only the small, easy ones.
"She's leaving the important ones, the ones that business would like addressed – like ACC, employment law, and the Holidays Act – because they're too hard.
"Business wants those issues tackled because they are the ones that are standing in the way of efficiency.
"In the first Milestone report, business expressed concern at the lack of action on the big areas, but the Minister ignored that.
"That report said 'many of the issues raised by business thus far have been outside the scope of the review as they relate to underlying policy'.
"Last year, Helen Clark said: 'We will also be taking a fresh look at regulatory frameworks. Feedback from business suggests that higher quality regulation would lead to more growth and investment – and we want to engage with business on how to achieve that.'
"By ignoring the big issues, this Government and this Minister are failing to live up to that.
"They claim they're serious about their commitment to businesses, but if this is an example of that I would hate to see what would be happening if they weren't serious."
He is commenting on the second Milestone report on the Quality Regulation Review in which Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel claimed Labour was 'fast-tracking solutions to regulatory issues raised wherever feasible'.
"The Minister is fast-tracking solutions, alright, but she is fast-tracking only the small, easy ones.
"She's leaving the important ones, the ones that business would like addressed – like ACC, employment law, and the Holidays Act – because they're too hard.
"Business wants those issues tackled because they are the ones that are standing in the way of efficiency.
"In the first Milestone report, business expressed concern at the lack of action on the big areas, but the Minister ignored that.
"That report said 'many of the issues raised by business thus far have been outside the scope of the review as they relate to underlying policy'.
"Last year, Helen Clark said: 'We will also be taking a fresh look at regulatory frameworks. Feedback from business suggests that higher quality regulation would lead to more growth and investment – and we want to engage with business on how to achieve that.'
"By ignoring the big issues, this Government and this Minister are failing to live up to that.
"They claim they're serious about their commitment to businesses, but if this is an example of that I would hate to see what would be happening if they weren't serious."