Hawke's Bay businesses get behind Government's mega $12b coronavirus package

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says Hawke's Bay is in a strong position for recovery and this relief package will allow the region to maximise the benefits for everyone. Photo / File

The Government has unveiled a $12.1 billion support Covid-19 virus rescue package and Hawke's Bay leaders are applauding the move.

This package comes as part of "the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history", Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

With the added boost for businesses those in Hawke's Bay who are feeling the pinch are able to take a breath of relief.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says Hawke's Bay is in a strong position for recovery and this relief package will allow us to maximise the benefits for all of our people.

"This package is a significant boost to healthcare and also provides certainty for our families and businesses.

"While these are uncertain times, we will maximise these opportunities that are available to our people in this package, which will help boost cash flow and keep people in jobs.

"As a region, we will also be working to identify other ways to keep people well, activate our economy and keep people employed."

Peak House manager Haydn Middleton said that the Government's announcement is a "huge response to a very worrying situation".

"The wage subsidy aspect to the financial package is massive," he said.

"As a business, we are not sure at this stage whether or not we need or would qualify for wage subsidies, but it could very well be something that is a very big help to us."

But he said that this is something that will not only help small businesses but keep the economy ticking over.

"We would like to think that overall the financial package is effective enough so that New Zealanders can still have the confidence to keep on spending which would undoubtedly help local businesses such as Peak House."

Peak House is taking extra measures to keep a healthy environment by implementing social distancing, but Middleton said it is important for themselves and other hospitality venues to continue to operate if it possible.

"We are fortunate that it is possible for us to carry on because of the nature of our space. We welcome people to continue to enjoy our special location."

Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker says ""In the midst of such a stressful time for many, I'm very pleased to see the New Zealand Government take a strong leadership approach in the announcement of a $12.1 billion package to support our economy in what is an unprecedented situation for our country.

"Although we are yet to see a confirmed case of Covid-19 in Hawke's Bay, this funding will provide our communities and local business owners with confidence, helping us to plan for any event that we may have to work together to face in the future."

Those full-time workers eligible for the package will receive $585 per week from the Government, paid in a lump sum package of just over $7000 covering a 12-week period.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson unveiled a $12.1 billion support package for the New Zealand economy. Photo / File

The Government is also raising benefits by $25 a week, starting April 1, and doubling the Winter Energy Payment.

This is just the first tranche of the Government spending response – the rest will be unveiled during May's "recovery" Budget.

The $12.1 billion spending package accounts for roughly 4 per cent of New Zealand's GDP and is comparatively bigger than the relief packages so far announced by Australia, the UK and the US.

"The Government is pulling out all the stops to protect the health of New Zealanders and the health of our economy," Ardern said.

The big-ticket items of the package include $5.1 billion for the wage subsidy package, $2.8b for benefit increases and the bolstered Winter Energy Payment and a further $2.8b for tax changes to free up cash flow.

That's a total of $8.7 billion for businesses and jobs.

The package also contains an initial $500 million boost in health spending and an initial $600 million to support the aviation sector.

A Covid-19 sick leave scheme has also been created and will be available for eight weeks at a cost of $126.5 million.

Some 27,000 workers every two weeks are expected to take advantage of this scheme.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the package is one of the largest in the world on a per capita basis.

It is more than the total sum of new spending in all three of the last Budgets put together.

"The global economic impact of Covid-19 on New Zealand's economy is going to be significant, so we are acting now to soften the impact."