Getting our economy moving again

We are now at Alert level 1 which means that New Zealand has one of the most relaxed restrictions on our gatherings, our business exchanges and communities in the world and our economy can get moving again.

At a time when other countries are still reporting tens of thousands of new cases and hundreds of COVID-related deaths each day, New Zealand has just become COVID-free.

Going hard and early has put us in a good position. The priority now is getting our economy moving again, while keeping up our strong health response. We can’t risk undoing the gains we all worked so hard for.

As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing a global recession, and this throws up historic challenges to our economy. However, because of our strong health response and economic management, we’re well placed to rise to those challenges.

The Government moved quickly to cushion the economic blow of COVID-19. This saved tens of thousands of jobs and helped keep businesses going. Wage subsidies alone have already benefitted nearly 1.7 million New Zealanders.

Budget 2020 continues this work as we look to recover and rebuild better. We’re creating new jobs building roads and houses, redeveloping hospitals and protecting the environment. We’re helping people get the skills they need for the jobs we need to rebuild New Zealand, through free training and apprenticeships. We’re also extending the wage subsidy scheme in a targeted way and making interest-free loans available to small businesses.

With Budget 2020, projections show unemployment could be back down to normal levels in just two years, and our economy could be growing again as early as next year.

We all want to reboot our economy. The Government’s strong desire was to move to Alert Level 1 as soon as possible. But we must continue to make sure it’s safe. We can’t risk yo-yoing between alert levels – we want to do this once and do it right.

At Level 1, border controls remain, but all current rules and restrictions on businesses and other services will essentially be lifted. All the rules for hospitality, like people being seated, separated, and having a single server, have ended. Physical distancing requirements have ended, too, including on planes, trains and buses.

Gatherings of any size can occur at Level 1. That means churches, temples and mosques have returned to full service, our sports and concert stadiums have opened up again, community sports have started, and we can celebrate and mourn together once again.

Greater freedoms come with greater responsibility though. It is even more important to practise good hand hygiene, keep track of where you go and who you have contact with, and to stay home if you feel sick.

If you haven’t already downloaded the NZ COVID Tracer app on your mobile phone, this is a handy way to create a secure digital diary for contact tracing purposes.

We said from the start that the best economic response to COVID-19 was a strong health response. While we’re in a safer position now, the path ahead is still challenging and we cannot take this position for granted, as there could still be undetected cases in our communities, and there are still New Zealanders returning home from overseas who must go into quarantine for 14 days to make sure they are covid free before re-entering society.

I think we can all be very proud of what we’ve achieved, and rightly enjoy our new freedoms.

Our team of five million united to defeat the virus, and now we must stick together to support the people suffering most from its economic impact. The Government is doing its bit to get our economy moving again and you can help, too. Little things like continuing to play it safe and shop local can make a big difference. We’re still all in this together.

-Marja Lubeck Labour List MP based in Rodney, Auckland.