Labour's Reuben Davidson, Ginny Andersen and Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ/Lillian Hanly
After a two-year policy drought, Labour's announced its third policy in three days - with the latest looking to expand access to a gaming subsidy.
Earlier this week, Labour announced its plan for a fund which would invest in New Zealand infrastructure and businesses only. On Tuesday, the Labour leader was caught off guard when questioned about the party's new health policy.
On Wednesday, its announced the party will expand eligibility for the Game Development Sector Rebate if elected.
Labour introduced the rebate in 2023. Currently, the GDSR offers a 20 percent refund on expenses for eligible businesses, with a minimum annual spend of $250,000. Its capped at $3 million a year.
Labour would increase the subsidy rate to 25 percent, open it up to smaller, independent studios by lowering the minimum spending threshold to $200,000, and lift the cap from $3m to $4.5m.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the gaming sector was on its way to being a billion dollar industry, employing more than a thousand people. He said Labour will make sure the job and economic opportunities from New Zealand's gaming sector stay in the country.
"This means more of the existing $40 million that Labour made available to the gaming sector each year will be used to help Kiwi companies grow and create jobs here, and ensure New Zealand remains a serious player in a global, multibillion-dollar industry," Hipkins said.
Labour's technology and innovation spokesperson Reuben Davidson said since 2023 the sector had seen a growth in revenue of 86 percent and the creation of "hundreds more skilled, higher paid jobs."
"We recognised early on the potential of New Zealand's game developers to compete globally, this expansion shows we're serious about keeping that momentum going," Davidson said.
Chris Hipkins says the new policy will help the sector grow. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
During the announcement, Hipkins said this was a "policy that pays for itself" due to the tax revenue the government is gaining through a growing gaming industry.
"The government actually does well out of this, because we see new businesses, growing new jobs, creating new opportunities for New Zealanders, and ultimately paying more tax to the government.
"It's a tax rebate. It's basically giving some of that money back to the sector so that it can continue to grow. So long as the sector continues to grow, we want to continue to back it."
Asked why rebates should be given to companies with large profits, Hipkins defended the policy, saying if the jobs were based in New Zealand and talent didn't end up leaving New Zealand, so that was good for the country.
"We're not going to say to our gaming sector that they can't have foreign investment, that they can't attract private equity.
"Of course, we want sectors in New Zealand to expand. The key thing here is we want to keep those opportunities here in New Zealand."
Hipkins said he didn't want international investors coming in and taking that business away, along with the jobs, people and talent, "so that other countries end up benefiting from the ideas that have started here in New Zealand".
Exodus to Australia - video game company boss
Chief executive and a co-founder of video game developer PikPok, Mario Wynands, echoed this sentiment. He told RNZ when Australia implemented its federal tax rebate, "we felt the impact of that immediately".
Australian companies were able to offer higher salaries than PikPok was able to, so "we lost more than a dozen of our most senior staff within the course of a single financial year", Wynands said.
"That kind of talent drain has an impact."
He said that same year, there was a gap between what New Zealand had available and what Australia offered, and "there were over 100 developers in New Zealand that effectively left for Australian companies".
The industry was made up of around 1000 people at the time, "so we lost 10 percent of the industry in a single year".
Wynands said the implementation of a GDSR had helped stabilise things, "stemmed the tide," and created a bit more parity and "more opportunity for New Zealand companies to compete on an even footing".
Davidson said the new policy would see an additional 10-15 new companies become eligible for the rebate.
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