Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

We are in our second week under Alert Level 3. While many restrictions around physical distancing are still in place, many businesses have resumed their operations which is vital for our economy.

Much like the rest of the world, New Zealand faces tough economic challenges ahead. However, we also have the opportunity to remodel our economy to become more sustainable going forward.

If we are to rise from the impending global recession, we need to critically rethink the way we do things.

To start off, we have to look after the needs of our country and our people first – this means helping our businesses, exporters, and employing our people should be our priority.

New Zealand First is resolved that our future economy will have these features about it:

If we can grow it or make it at near-competitive prices then we should grow it, make it, use it, or export it before wasting valuable offshore funds importing it.

This means bringing back manufacturing to New Zealand. We used to be a country that had thriving vehicle and pharmaceutical productions, we need to restore this lost capability.

If a job can be filled by a New Zealander, then it should be filled by a New Zealander rather than to import labour. We should train, upskill, and pay New Zealanders properly to do these jobs.

We need to put up the shutters to offshore ownership of this country's economy and go back to owning as much of it as we possibly can.

New Zealand's economic future needs far greater autonomy. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid out the pitfalls of globalism before us.

NZ First have known this and have been talking about this since the inception of our party. We have constantly fought to retain our state assets, to employ New Zealanders first, and to foster export-led economic growth.

Our country has the resources to carve out our own economic destiny. We have enormous natural wealth above and below ground, in our seas and underneath it also.

New Zealand has a truly amazing people, who are resilient when put to the test. We have the natural and human resources to become a great nation once again.

You can count on NZ First to put forward common sense policies to bring us out of the economic recession. We will continue our mission of putting our country and our citizens first.