Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown says there isn't a simple solution to stimulating economic growth across New Zealand.
It comes as the government is being urged to inject stimulus into Auckland's economy after dismal unemployment figures for the city were released this week.
Auckland saw the worst unemployment rate in the country at 6.1 percent - roughly 1 percent higher than the national figure.
On Thursday, Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges told RNZ most of the government's plans for Auckland were long term.
But Brown rejected that, and said the government were doing a range of things in the short term.
"This year's Budget Investment Boost was in there to help businesses directly go out there and buy new kit, new equipment, new plant - that is about expensing that equipment so that they can actually go out there and invest with confidence," he told Morning Report.
"We're doing things around tourism - Louise Upston has a huge number of events attracting tourists to New Zealand with different visa changes, digital nomads, investment rules changed through immigration with Erica Stanford.
"All of these are about the now and also, Fast Tack, that is not only about the long term, making it quick and easy to get consents.
"The first consent is going to be an extension to the ports of Auckland which is a $200 million project ... the good news about that is that it starts before Christmas ... those types of projects would have taken six, seven, eight years without Fast Track."
Brown conceded there were still significant challenges which he said were responses to a high inflationary environment and the high interest rates.
"There is no one simple solution to making sure we're stimulating economic growth across New Zealand," he said.
"There are multiple things that have to be done across multiple government departments.
"Whether that is immigration (and) making it easier to come here on a visitor visa."
Brown said while the government hadn't made countries such as China visa free, the government had made several other changes to make it easier for tourists.
"One of the changes coming that's coming in I think December is about the transit visa for Chinese visitors, that's going to make a big difference," he said.
"There's going to be a new flight connection between Auckland and South America with Chinese visitors being able to transit through Auckland - that's happening later this year.
"A lot of the changes are happening. Those are all going stimulate demand in the Auckland economy."
Assistance for low, middle-income Kiwis on back-burner - Swarbrick
Green Party co-leader and Auckland MP Chlöe Swarbrick said Auckland's unemployment rate was "horrifying" and even more disturbing was the 12-13 percent rate for young people.
Chlöe Swarbrick Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
She said students were terrified about their job prospects and were planning to go overseas while hospitality businesses and retailers were telling her people couldn't afford to go out.
She accused the government of moving at pace to find billions of dollars to assist the tobacco industry and landlords and embarking on anti-environmental measures.
"But when it comes to stimulating the incomes of the low and middle-income New Zealanders that's got to go on the back-burner, that's just got to wait."
Swarbrick said she had several suggestions for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown that would reduce the cost of living.
These included: reinstate subsidised public transport fares, free early childhood fees, free doctors' and dentistry fees and more investment in public housing, which would also boost the construction sector.
"There are immediate interventions the government can make as opposed to just handing out billions of dollars to the big end of town and hoping it will trickle down.
"It hasn't worked for the last 40 years and it's not working now."
Swarbrick said the government's claim it was doing enough could be countered by the unemployment figures and the homelessness statistics.
She had invited the prime minister to visit her electorate several times to see for himself the inequality his government's policies were causing.
Small business owners were also annoyed with the government over its plan to make them absorb interchange fees, when instead they should be covered by the major banks.
Swarbrick also favoured rent controls to protect tenants potentially facing rent increases.
"There are a lot of levers that need to be pulled here. But this is why we need to take a step back and ask ourselves: who is this thing that we call the economy for because right now the government's focus has been on the big end of town and providing them with all the tax breaks and an uncapped investment boost and all the rest."
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