The Premium Debate: Subscribers have their say on raising the minimum wage

Some Bay of Plenty business leaders opposed to minimum wage hike. Photo / Getty Images

"The last straw" and ''pouring petrol on the inflation fire'' are how some business leaders are describing the rise in the minimum wage from $20 an hour to $21.20 from April 1. They say the extra cost could be the tipping point for struggling business owners hit hard by the pandemic. However, other business owners support the move and believe more employers should be paying the Living Wage of $22.75.

Read the full story: Bay of Plenty business leaders opposed to minimum wage hike.

Have your say by going to bayofplentytimes.co.nz or dailypost.co.nz and becoming a Premium subscriber.

This Government does not care. It is driven by ideology and think its majority is so big it can do what it likes. It is in for a rude awakening as protests increase and they get tossed out at the next election.
Ian U

The minimum wage rise and the Job Tax are both the last straw. As a business owner, I cannot keep up with the escalating costs. The ignorant ideological ideas being imposed on business make me feel very frightened to be in business. It was hard enough keeping our heads above water with all the lockdowns in Auckland. Now we have endless socialist ideologies which business is supposed to fund. The only way to fund all of this will be with redundancies and business closures. This Government is taking New Zealand backwards at speed, and saddling us with record debt. It's a tragedy.
Oscar R

I earn slightly more than the new minimum wage and I certainly won't get a pay rise. This will just take more out of my pocket with the price of everything increasing. Why can the Government not think outside the usual "raise minimum wage" line and think about things that benefit all people? Such as the first 18k tax-free, remove GST off fruit and veg, drop taxes from petrol prices. Those sorts of things would actually help.
Catherine M

Disagreeing with a minimum wage increase does not equate with disagreeing that the lower-paid need help. There are smarter ways of achieving the required outcome and a wage/price spiral is not one of them. Discipline around government spending (of taxpayers' money) and a reduction in the bloated public service, along with targeted tax relief for the lower paid would be a start. That would take some complex thinking and hard decisions though, not strengths of the current Government. A socialist approach of continually trying to re-distribute an ever diminishing economic cake is unsustainable.
Jim L

People deserve to live off a living wage of $22.75 … wait, did I say $22.75? I meant $23.50 … wait, no I actually mean $24.25… no, now it's $25.75 … no, hold on now they need $27.50 … stop, wait now it's $31.25 … This is what inflation does. Kiwis don't simply need a minimum pay increase, they need an increase in their ability to purchase and the security and confidence that comes with lower inflation.
Luke H

The recent actions of this Govt seem designed to stoke inflation rather than cool it. The redundancy insurance is the dumbest of the lot. This ridiculous minimum wage increase just hammers the sort of businesses that employ minimum wage workers. On a par with the left's well-intentioned banning of special low rates for workers with disabilities that killed off the sheltered workshops years ago. We must stop electing politicians with nil private sector experience nor common sense.
Sean P

Not adjusting the tax brackets in a higher inflation environment is tax increases by stealth. It should be adjusted automatically and not viewed as a tax cut, just the prevention of a tax increase. This would help minimum wage earners and indeed all. Sadly our Government is really very inexperienced and completely out of touch with how a business runs. I see inflation surging further under their poor leadership. It will likely cost them the election in 2023. You can't keep applying inflationary policies and then pretend it's all offshore inputs. It's quite a cynical approach.
Colin K

The problem is, it's not just a hike in the minimum wage. Everybody up the food chain wants a hike to keep in step. Couldn't have picked a worse time to do it. Of course, Robertson will somehow attribute the impacts to global factors.
Andy G

This Government 'Labour/Greens' is the most unfriendly to business I have ever seen. The continual increase to minimum wage up from $17 to $21 during a pandemic where businesses are struggling is unrealistic. Businesses pay this, not the Government. This includes more sick days and holidays where businesses pay this, not the Government. Not to mention the Government borrowing billions of dollars putting NZ in major debt. All of this causing increasing inflation. All costs must be passed onto the consumer. No, money does not grow on trees and the economy is turning.
Max R

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