Jobs summit throws up three big
ideas
4:00AM Saturday Feb 28, 2009
By Audrey Young
Prime Minister John Key addresses delegates at the Jobs Summit. Photo
/ Kenny Rodger
Bill English addresses the summit
Informal talks with Rudd 'probably most valuable' part of
Key's visit
Economic crisis
dominates agenda for Key and Rudd
A
national campaign to save or create thousands of jobs and stabilise shaky
businesses will hinge on three main ideas from yesterday's Jobs Summit.
A
nine-day working fortnight, an investment fund worth hundreds of millions of
dollars and - the surprise item - a cycleway the length of New Zealand are
among the few specific ideas to emerge in a 21-point plan to counter the ailing
economy.
Prime
Minister John Key will give priority to working on taxpayer-paid training
subsidies for businesses that cut a working fortnight to nine days, with nine
days' pay.
But
he has ruled out the Government entirely paying the wages for the tenth day,
saying: "I think it wouldn't be possible to fund it 100 per cent."
The
Government was more likely to pay for training than wage replacement.
The
cost to the Government of paying a one-day-a-fortnight wage subsidy has been
put at $320 million a year.
In Mr
Key's closing speech to the summit in Manukau yesterday, he said he wanted to
investigate the idea "without delay".
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The
summit also heard about Mr Key's idea to complete the Te Araroa walkway the
length of New Zealand, and his plan for a cycleway through national parks.
Under
the plan, $50 million would be spent to employ 4000 people to build the
cycleway.
Summit
chairman and Stock Exchange chief executive Mark Weldon said Mr Key raised the
idea at a pre-summit meeting on Tuesday. It was not one of the formal top 20
ideas.
The
most expensive proposal from the summit was for an equity investment fund
involving the Government and private banks as partners.
Though
figures were not discussed in open sessions, the scheme would involve hundreds
of millions of dollars.
The
most expensive single pledge given yesterday came from Warehouse founder
Stephen Tindall, who said the Tindall Foundation would put $1 million towards
"bottom-up" training that helped improve people's access to
information and services.
About
200 leaders from business, unions, sector interest groups and politicians took
part in the summit, which divided into six work groups.
At
the summit, Mr Key said the public-private investment fund would be "a pot
of investment money to help New Zealand companies get the access to share
capital they need to grow their cake and therefore to create jobs".
Later,
he said it was an idea with "a fair bit of merit", but would need to
be explored.
Finance
Minister Bill English said: "It is worth investigating - we just need to
be clear what it does that banks wouldn't already do."
Mr
Key said completing the walking track would cost about $6 million.
Adding
a cycle track would create huge tourism opportunities.
He
singled out for mention a possible public-private fund to help increase
tourism.
He
also said he wanted to fast-track implementation of National's youth guarantee
scheme which covers the transition from school to training or study.
Mr
Key has assigned public servants in his own department, the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet, to oversee development of the ideas.
The
main ones would receive a Government response, and he wanted to meet the
leading summit participants in six to eight weeks.
Mr
Key said everybody who attended the summit had taken a risk, "but you put
the interests of your country ahead of yourself or your organisation".
Some
ideas might appear in the May 28 Budget but Mr English has given himself only
$1.75 billion of new spending and some of that is already committed.