MPs’ remarks leave business owners livid

At a time when many business owners are in a desperate battle for survival, statements diminishing the impact of Covid-19, or even suggesting that the problems are somehow their fault, have left some of them livid.

In the days after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the level 4 lockdown until after Anzac Day, two of her colleagues made statements which should be withdrawn.

Employment Minister Willie Jackson told MPs this week that “another week [of lockdown] is not going to hurt or destroy anyone”.

The extended lockdown may provide massive benefits to New Zealand long term, both from a health and economic perspective. But the idea that it will not cost some businesses in the short term is simply nonsense.

Even the Minister of Finance appears to believe unemployment will hit double digits before the wage subsidy ends.

Dr Deborah Russell seems to be a hard working MP and a good person, but her attempt to make a soft question sound clever may haunt her for some time.

The MP for New Lynn told us that struggling businesses must not have had the required financial strength, as she eventually found her way to ask Finance Minister Grant Robertson a question.

If that was not bad enough, she went on to hint that because New Zealand’s wages were so low (which is only true in comparison to very wealthy countries) that people may be so discouraged by their pay that they decide to start a business without the necessary skills.

“I’m thinking of the plumber who goes out on their own,” she told me the following morning, by which time her name was already trending on Twitter.

Her central point, that business “runs on the smell of an oily rag”, is true.

That is not exactly the same as the problem she was trying to describe: the perceived “lack of capital” which means we might not fully realise the value of our ideas or products because we cannot invest enough.

But even if that were not the case, we will always have businesses which sail close to the wind, ploughing every last dollar back in and when something goes wrong, worry whether the staff wages will get paid.

As someone who has only ever worked for wages or salary, I say we should cherish them. Instead of finding jobs, they make jobs, both for themselves and for those not willing to take a risk on their ideas. In the case of exporters, they are the ones which give our NZ dollars value.

Many try and fail, but enough have been succeeding that participation in the workforce has been hitting record levels. Now, almost all are struggling, in most cases through no fault of their own.

Among the many emails I received about Russell’s comments (but which could equally apply to Jackson’s) was one from Darren Singh, who having started a business in his sister’s garage in 2010, now owns three 24 hour gyms in Pukekohe, Tuakau and Pokeno. As well as employing five people and providing income for a dozen contractors, Singh said his business helps improve fitness in the Franklin community.

The company entered the lockdown with less cash in the bank than usual because at the start of the year Singh invested in air conditioning to keep up with the standards its customers expect.

Having suspended all membership payments during the lockdown, Singh is now working night shifts at a friend’s security business to help cover the ongoing costs. His landlords have reduced his rent, but not completely.

While he supported the Government’s moves to protect public health, the gyms will not be able to operate until New Zealand moves to alert level 2, likely to be in mid-May at the earliest.

He described Russell’s comments as “rude” and said other business owners were likely to be insulted.

Other businesses are virtually begging to be allowed to operate. They are not struggling because of a lack of skills or bad business decisions, they are in many cases simply unable to operate because of Government order. Businesses which in some cases have been built over generations may be lost.

We may all ultimately benefit from that order, but for MPs to suggest they are in that position through some fault of their own, or diminish the impact of the lockdown, is shocking.

As someone who has only ever worked for wages or salary, I say we should cherish them.