Labour has released its economic plan, outlining a number of previous commitments and announcing that it will redirect up to $50 million a year into the state-backed Elevate venture capital fund.
Labour’s finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said this would allow for more innovative businesses to “expand, hire and pay good wages here at home”.
The money would come from the Government’s overall contribution to the New Zealand Super Fund, which oversees Elevate.
In 2025 the government contribution to the NZ Super Fund was $879 million, up to $50m of that year’s contribution would be around 6 percent.
Elevate is a government-funded fund of funds programme, working with around $400 million, looking to allocate that into venture capital firms.
Labour said its economic plan would create growth and opportunity in every part of the country, with Edmonds saying too many people were “working harder just to stand still”.
“Three years on from National’s promise to get things moving, 171,000 Kiwis are out of work, business liquidations are at a 15-year high, and 2000 people are leaving the country every week. National had its chance, and families are worse off for it.”
Edmonds said Labour had a plan to “turn that around”.
“And we’ll do it responsibly. Every dollar the government spends is someone’s hard earned money. We’ll treat it that way, managing the books carefully and investing where it makes a difference,” Edmonds said.
The full list of commitments in its economic plan follow:
Edmonds said it was about backing the people who keep the economy going, and Labour would “back the Kiwi businesses that will create tomorrow’s jobs”.
“Too many promising companies are forced to move or sell overseas before we see the full benefit.”
Last year’s Budget allocated an extra $100m into the Elevate fund, with $61m coming from the Government’s contribution to the New Zealand Super Fund, and $39 million direct from the Government.