“Labour seems to think that more regulation will fix our supermarket industry, but that’s exactly what the problem is,” says ACT’s Leader David Seymour.
“An industry regulator, more codes of conduct, compulsory pricing, only Labour could possibly think those measures would increase competition in the supermarket industry.”
“Chucking even more regulations on the sector is going to do the complete opposite, it will disincentivise ambitious people from entering the industry and creating more competition.
“Entering the market is already nearly impossible considering the regulatory barriers faced in New Zealand. If it’s too hard to build a house, imagine a supermarket.
“We should make it easier to develop property, easier to get foreign direct investment into the country, and easier to employ people.
“It’s too hard to build, too hard to invest, too hard to do business in New Zealand.
“If we want a bustling, competitive supermarket industry, we need to attract big players by showing them an industry they want to invest in. Instead they’ll look at Australia which attracts 80 per cent more foreign investment per capita.
“There’s no doubt the Kiwis are being squeezed at the supermarket – but the Government needs to admit that it’s the inflation it caused that’s hurting Kiwi battlers.
“If the Government really cared about consumers and competition, it would stop making laws that make it harder to do business in New Zealand. If we want more competition, it must be possible for investment to come into the country, sites to be developed for property, skilled people to come through the border, and new employers to employ people without endless bureaucracy, not to mention the onset of ‘fair pay’ agreements which will make competition even harder with all workers in a sector on the same contract nationwide.”