29 May 2020

Paul Goldsmith on National's $10k cash pledge for businesses offering jobs

From Checkpoint, 5:41 pm on 29 May 2020

National's promising hundreds of millions of dollars in cash hand outs - for business at least - if it gets elected come September.

It will give $10,000 to employers for each new worker they hire - with individual businesses able to claim up to $100,000 for a total of 10 new staff.

The fund will be capped at $500 million and companies applying for it will have to prove the job is new and permanent; they'll get half the money upfront and the other half after 90 days.

The scheme would run for five months, and only applies to existing businesses that would also have to sign declarations stating the job was real.

Lisa Owen talked to National's finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith and asked him what evidence there is that cash payments would lead to extra jobs being created.