Wage efforts welcome but only part of the picture

Liz, Greg and Kim Diack, from Diacks Nurseries, hope the Government’s Budget can stimulate the economy in this challenging time. PHOTO: LUISA GIRAO

Diack’s Nurseries manager Greg Diack was pleased with the extension of the wage subsidies scheme, but he did not see much in it for him or his business.

"It always sounds good, they fire a lot of money ... but we don’t know how it pans out in the end.

"For our business, it is not a big thing — but I can see a good effort in it."

He believed a lot of companies would appreciate the wage package but would still struggle with other expenditures.

"It is a lot of money, but it is only one way to businesses that are on the edge to hang on in their key staff.

"Businesses have a lot of other costs to cover, like rent, bills. I didn’t see much initiatives in relation to that."

Mr Diack has been running the 100-year family business for more than 40 years.

He applied for the wage subsidy scheme and was able to keep his 20-person team. However, he said it was lucky the outbreak of Covid-19 happened out of peak season, when the company employed about 35 people.

"If this situation happened during the spring, the story could be different. It was definitely challenging, but we weren’t so bad in the end."

A positive in the Budget was the $1.6 billion trades and training scheme, he said.

"It is very needed because I believed it had been a gap for the last 30 to 40 years. We need skilled staff coming through, especially with the minimum wage coming up. People will expect more for their money."

He also believed if the Government invested more in trains, it could affect the price of freight.

"At the moment, freight price is very expensive. This could be a good thing for every business in the South Island."