Turning policy changes into progress and getting infrastructure projects moving are just two of the priorities for the employers’ association, writes Graham Skellern
An increased bipartisan approach to economic growth will create more certainty, confidence and hope for business and the public, says EMA chief executive John Fraser-Mackenzie.
“I may be a little naive but I do think it will become politically important to be seen being bipartisan,” he says. “In the last 20 years I’ve never known a time more than now when there is more of a clamour for bipartisan, long-term thinking from the public and business.
“It isn’t just about National and Labour talking with each other. We will continue to have a MMP government of some hue and they can have a very strong influence in what happens. We are including NZ First, Act, Green Party and Te Pāti Māori because they can throw things off course.”
Fraser-Mackenzie says a bipartisan approach will have more of an impact on some sectors than others – such as infrastructure, education, health and energy which are very long-term. Often, you can’t make a positive change during the course of one electoral cycle, both from a political and business perspective.
“Companies will ask themselves, ‘How long does our business plan run for – what do we build and who do we recruit.’ If they are trying to get a payback in three years, it never really happens like that.
“Business thrives on confidence, and they need a bit more runway to justify their expenditure. The more long-term certainty the better, particularly in areas that inherently are longer term than the electoral cycle.”
He says, in a healthy political system, parties do need to have their own policies. “To this end, I think we need to talk about non-partisan rather than bipartisan with the MMP system and the percentage of the vote enjoyed by the biggest two reducing over time.”
Fraser-Mackenzie says certainty and stability reduce risk and this encourages more investment, which leads to economic growth and increased prosperity for New Zealand.
In the areas of infrastructure, education and health, a 30-year vision with 10-year goals is a very good concept. “You are taking away uncertainty and investment risk in the decision-making
“If there is a gentleman’s agreement or understanding amongst the political parties that they won’t stop a project at a certain point, then they are doing a good service to taxpayers.”
Fraser-Mackenzie says the mood of business is “falteringly moving towards positive. People are feeling a little better but there is still enough bad news, especially internationally with geopolitical tensions and tariffs, which they hang onto and knocks them about.”
He says parts of the economy are picking up and giving people hope – dairy, red meat and kiwifruit, for instance – and this activity will flow through. There’s a lot going on in the policy space such as RMA reform, workplace relations, and Fast Track approvals.
The New Zealand Infrastructure Investment Summit sent good vibes and showed the government is prepared to do things differently – for example, public-private partnerships.
“But while we are waiting for some infrastructure projects, how much repairs and maintenance have been done. We have paused major projects but haven’t replaced them with infill projects.”
Fraser-Mackenzie says the flat house prices are holding back business confidence. “Our mental model of wealth and confidence is driven inordinately by house prices, in part because domestic mortgages are used to finance a lot of the SMEs.
“As a nation, house prices are stuck in the horns of dilemma. On the one hand we want to improve housing affordability but, conversely, the national psyche and feeling of affluence is very much tied to what our houses are worth. House prices remaining low improves affordability but it keeps consumer confidence down.”
Fraser-Mackenzie applauds the focus on regulations that support growth and make it easier for business to concentrate on executing their commercial plans.
But on government spending, he says the state sector has ballooned over the last 10 years, “and we need to see more focus on productivity and efficiency there before they get more money from us. They need to unwind the increase in state sector headcount and consider asset sales.”
Fraser-Mackenzie has been in the EMA role for 15 months and has helped maintain a steady membership of 7000 firms. The EMA has implemented a comprehensive IT upgrade that has improved the member experience online and modernised systems to make them more efficient and secure.
If there is a gentleman’s agreement or understanding amongst the political parties that they won’t stop a project at a certain point, then they are doing a good service to taxpayers.
“We have grown revenue in professional services (employment relations, human resources and health and safety) and learning and development, as well as rationalising our cost base.
In the financial year to June 2025, revenue grew to almost $20 million from $19.3m the previous year.
Fraser-Mackenzie says, “We are looking at ways of providing deeper membership value. We’ve been running member events on artificial intelligence and wrangling around strategy of what we should be offering.
“We need to consider the opportunities, but also we are keen to remain focused on our DNA and what we are good at, which is really around the employment piece.”
The EMA is an advertising sponsor of the Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom report.