Ardern rules out wage subsidy at Levels 1 and 2

September 27, 2021
Jacinda Ardern.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out extending the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme for struggling businesses when Auckland drops alert levels. 

It comes after mounting calls for more financial support for the retail and hospitality sectors. 

"The wage subsidy has been very targeted to those parts of the alert levels where it's very, very difficult to operate," Ardern told Breakfast.

"Of course, at Level 2 we see the ability to open but you still may well have a decline because people are not returning to say a CBD area or others where the resurgence payment continues to be available."

It comes as calls mount for more financial support for retail and hospitality sectors.

Hospitality New Zealand told Breakfast that hundreds of businesses across the sector were on the brink of closure without extra support from Government. 

Auckland branch president Jamie Freeman says the sector's lost more than $326 million since the beginning of the Delta outbreak, with many still reeling from the impacts of previous lockdowns. 

He added that Hospitality NZ has been inundated with calls from business owners who are struggling to stay afloat, with some having already lost their homes. 


It comes as calls mount for more financial support for retail and hospitality sectors.

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