Published in Insights, The New Zealand Initiative’s newsletter, 25 September 2026
Over the past couple of months, we have heard mounting alarm from business leaders about this election campaign. They are asking whether New Zealand still welcomes people willing to invest here. The concern comes from a broad range of industries.
Those conversations prompted an open letter, now signed by 51 business leaders. It asks all political parties to respect private property and the agreements people make.
Politicians have proposed forced business break-ups, state takeovers and rewriting existing contracts. Together with increasingly hostile rhetoric towards business, these proposals suggest that ownership is secure only as long as politicians find it convenient.
People struggling with grocery bills, rent or the cost of seeing a doctor deserve serious answers. Their frustration is understandable. Politicians should tackle the root causes of these problems.
Instead, they are increasingly resorting to blaming business. Such scapegoating is easy. Presumably it polls well. Removing the obstacles to building new homes, increasing competition or generating additional electricity takes sustained work.
Our letter calls for the same rules for everyone. Consumers deserve protection against dishonest conduct and illegal restrictions on competition. Enforcing those rules is part of maintaining a rules-based economy.
So is restraining political power. Property rights mean that what you lawfully own is yours. Freedom of contract means people can make lawful agreements and rely on them. Neither should be vulnerable to politicians claiming that overriding them will make somebody else better off.
Nor does compensation repair the damage to our reputation. Investors elsewhere see the precedent. They do not have to invest in New Zealand. Neither do New Zealanders.
Even a threat that never becomes law can delay a factory or a new power station. Jobs that might have been created may never appear. Customers miss out on new competitors.
Less investment also means fewer opportunities for the higher wages that families so badly need. The cost falls well beyond the owners of the businesses being targeted.
Our letter asks politicians to withdraw these proposals and get on with work the country needs: repairing public finances, improving education and delivering reliable infrastructure. An ageing population and a more dangerous world make that work urgent.
We need conditions in which people can build homes, expand businesses and hire staff with confidence. Those who signed are ready to work with any government towards that end. The next generation should inherit a country where people are confident enough to build something that lasts.
