Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced on 8 February, 2023 that a suite of programmes are being canceled or delayed, as he says the Government is putting their focus on the cost of living.
This means the Income Insurance Scheme, which the Restaurant Association provided a submission on, will not go ahead as planned at this stage. This will take some pressure off recovering businesses. The biofuels mandate is also to be stopped and Government is to consider changes to the 3 Waters programme soon.
The Government also took the opportunity to announce the changes to the minimum wage which will increase by the rate of inflation on 1 April. This is another large change and will have an impact on our businesses, particularly through the flow-on effect which increases other wage rates within a business. The new hourly wage is $22.70. The Starting-Out and Training minimum wage rates will be maintained at 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.
| TYPE OF MINIMUM WAGE | AS FROM 1 APRIL 2023 | CURRENT |
| Adult | $22.70 | $21.20 |
| Starting-Out | $18.16 | $16.96 |
| Training | $18.16 | $16.96 |