Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

As alert level 4 lapsed last Monday, many businesses resume their operations after having to shut down during the lockdown.

The past five weeks would not have been easy for them, but thanks to the wide range of support mechanisms the Coalition Government introduced, we were able to soften the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

It is important to recognise that being under alert level 3 does not mean we are out of the woods yet. In fact, many of the alert level 4 restrictions will still be in place especially with regards to physical interactions.

We should still limit to our own bubbles, but alert level 3 allows a small extension of it – such as a relative or a caregiver you need to be with during these times. It is by no means a return of the pre-COVID normalcy.

As the Prime Minister said: alert level 3 opens up our economy but not our social lives.

Under level 4, our primary duty was to self-isolate to curb the spread of the virus. We should continue to do so under level 3, but we have another mission also: to support our local businesses.

During the lockdown we followed the mantra: ‘stay at home, save lives'. Under level 3, we should remember to ‘buy local, save businesses'.

Every dollar we spend into a local business will help them stay open and continue to provide services to the community.

When we patronize our local small and medium businesses, we help a family pay for their mortgage, help parents send their kids to school, or keep your neighbours employed.

By saving Kiwi businesses, we also save jobs. Under alert level 3, we see many New Zealanders returning to their places of work – particularly in the construction and forestry sectors.

New Zealand First has swiftly promoted policies that will create more jobs or save existing ones. Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has asked the public for ‘shovel ready' building projects that can proceed as soon as the construction industry resumes its operations.

As the champion of the provinces, you can expect many of these projects to be situated in our provinces. Our regions were not only hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, they also suffer from inadequate public infrastructure which we will remedy.

NZ First is also working on policies that will ensure banks give New Zealanders a fair go. During tough economic times, we want to ensure that we see reasonable interest rates and that capital is available for our businesses.

As we enter alert level 3, work must now begin to rebuild our economy.