Labour should sort out its stance on talks
Multi-party talks on monetary policy will be difficult while the Labour Government is at odds with itself over the issue, says National Party Finance Spokesman Bill English.
"On Friday Trevor Mallard called for talks with National, while today Helen Clark was in the media rejecting the prospect.
"National will talk with anyone interested in working for New Zealand's interest in a robust export sector and the policies they need to stay competitive.
"Smaller parties have also indicated their interest in cross-party talks, and National will look at their proposals.
"Almost all the options for improving export performance would be politically difficult, if not impossible, for the Labour Government.
"We would need to see some indication that Labour is willing to change its policies to make these industries more competitive and stop treating them as a cash machine for Labour to spend their money.
"But that shouldn't prevent other political parties getting to grips with better export policies.
"The productive sector is under real pressure. Political talks would have to produce meaningful policy changes quickly to make any difference."
"On Friday Trevor Mallard called for talks with National, while today Helen Clark was in the media rejecting the prospect.
"National will talk with anyone interested in working for New Zealand's interest in a robust export sector and the policies they need to stay competitive.
"Smaller parties have also indicated their interest in cross-party talks, and National will look at their proposals.
"Almost all the options for improving export performance would be politically difficult, if not impossible, for the Labour Government.
"We would need to see some indication that Labour is willing to change its policies to make these industries more competitive and stop treating them as a cash machine for Labour to spend their money.
"But that shouldn't prevent other political parties getting to grips with better export policies.
"The productive sector is under real pressure. Political talks would have to produce meaningful policy changes quickly to make any difference."