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Roger Kerr - Source: ONE News -
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Business Roundtable executive director Roger Kerr says if the government and other political parties do not like some of the Taskforce 2025 recommendations they should come up with alternatives.
The 2025 Taskforce Report, chaired by former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash, was released on Monday with its take on how New Zealand could close the economic gap with Australia by 2025.
New Zealand currently borrows around $250 million a week to meet its budget requirements and is one of the most heavily indebted countries in the developed world.
Suggestions in the report included cutting government spending to 2005 levels, lowering the minimum wage, moving towards an overall top tax rate of between 20%-25%, and raising the entitlement age for superannuation.
The report has received, at best, a lukewarm response from the government with Finance Minister Bill English dismissing the report as too radical.
Kerr describes the report as "high quality" and says it is in line with what the roundtable has long advocated to raise New Zealand incomes, and is also consistent with advice from the OECD.
Kerr says the taskforce did not address some issues such as opening up ACC to competition and the effect of MMP on governance.
However, he says the report has merit.
"The question New Zealanders should be putting to the government and other political parties is, 'Do you want to close the gap or not?'," he says.
Other organisations such as Business NZ have also endorsed the report, with CEO Phil O'Reilly saying that some of the report's recommendations would "turbo charge the economy".
The taskforce was set up as part of the National-led government's support agreement with the ACT Party.
