Wellington Business Election Priorities 2026

Backing private sector growth

These priorities focus on what Wellington needs from the next Government to restore confidence, attract investment and turn the capital’s strengths into stronger economic growth.

Business Central represents more than 3,500 businesses across the central and lower North Island, and top of the South, and is part of the BusinessNZ network. We are also home to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

Foreword from Hayley Horan

Wellington is a city with deep strengths: skilled people, strong institutions, world-class creative and digital businesses, a growing innovation base, and a private sector ready to invest, employ and grow. With the right settings, those strengths can translate into stronger business confidence, investment and opportunity.

These election priorities set out what Wellington businesses need from the next Government to restore confidence, unlock investment and support private sector growth. They are practical, focused and grounded in what we hear from businesses across the region. Wellington needs policy settings that make it easier to start, grow and invest in a business, while backing the people and industries that will drive our future economy.

A clear priority is reducing regulatory and compliance costs, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. Practical changes to tax, cash flow and day-to-day administration would allow business owners to spend more time focused on customers, staff and productivity.

We also want to see better access to growth capital through a dedicated Growth Fund or other funding pathways that help established, high-potential businesses scale reducing over-reliance on residential mortgage debt as the only route to capital. If we want more Wellington firms to become local, national and global success stories, we need investment settings that match their ambition.

The wider priorities matter too. Housing and infrastructure delivery, local government reform, skills, productivity, and creative and digital growth will all shape Wellington’s future. We need to do more to help businesses invest in digital tools, new technologies and workforce capability, including earn-as-you-learn pathways that build skills while people work. Wellington has the talent and ideas to help lead New Zealand’s next phase of economic growth. What we need now is the confidence, policy settings and delivery focus to turn that potential into results.

Hayley Horan

Chief Executive

Business Central and Wellington Chamber of Commerce

Our priorities

1. Create a Business-Friendly Regulatory Environment

   
   

   Wellington should be one of the easiest places in New Zealand to start, grow and invest in a business.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Reduce regulatory and compliance costs for businesses, including practical changes that make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to manage tax, cash flow and day-to-day administration.

     
     

   • Require regulators to assess the local economic impact of significant new rules on businesses and investment.

     
     

   • Review operational barriers facing businesses and identify practical changes that improve productivity, reduce complexity and make it easier to start, grow and invest in a business.

     
     

2. Make Wellington New Zealand’s Innovation Capital

   
   

   Wellington has one of New Zealand’s strongest concentrations of skilled people, with clear strengths in technology, science, professional services, government, education, screen, gaming and creative industries.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Establish a Growth Fund or other pathway to help established, high-potential small and medium-sized businesses scale—reducing over-reliance on residential mortgage debt as the only route to capital.

     
     

   • Strengthen collaboration between Wellington’s universities, vocational education providers, Crown research institutes, public agencies and industry.

     
     

   • Invest in Wellington’s innovation ecosystem by supporting innovation precincts, startup hubs, business accelerators, and the development of a new science and technology hub.

     
     

3. Accelerate Housing and Infrastructure Delivery

   
   

   Wellington cannot grow without more housing, better transport connections, and infrastructure that enables private investment and supports a growing population.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Prioritise infrastructure and transport investment that improves access to the central city, port, airport and key employment areas, while unlocking economic growth and private investment opportunities, including projects such as the SH1 Wellington improvements.

     
     

   • Unlock underused public land for housing and mixed-use development, with clear timeframes and greater certainty for private sector delivery.

     
     

   • Maximise local economic benefits from Government investment by ensuring major projects in Wellington create meaningful opportunities for local businesses to participate in delivery and share in the resulting economic activity.

     
     

4. Reform Local Government to Support Growth

   
   

   Wellington needs a simpler, stronger and more accountable local government system that can make decisions, enable growth and work effectively with central government.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Progress local government reform that supports stronger regional decision-making, including enabling Wellington regional amalgamation where it delivers better outcomes for communities, businesses and infrastructure.

     
     

   • Negotiate a City or Regional Deal for Wellington that links central government investment with local government reform, financial discipline and private sector-led delivery.

     
     

   • Strengthen local government capability and capacity to match the scale and complexity of major infrastructure, housing and economic development projects being delivered across the region.

     
     

5. Invest in Skills, Talent and Productivity

   
   

   Wellington’s workforce is one of its biggest advantages, but businesses need clearer pathways into work, stronger talent attraction and support to lift productivity.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Strengthen pathways between education and employment by improving connections between schools, tertiary providers and employers, and making it easier for SMEs to host interns through better data sharing and industry engagement.

     
     

   • Improve the attraction and retention of highly skilled migrants to help address critical workforce needs.

     
     

   • Support stronger collaboration between employers, universities and training providers to ensure skills development aligns with industry demand.

     
     

   • Lift public sector productivity by partnering with Wellington’s technology sector and supporting workers to build practical digital and AI skills.

     
     

6. Back Creative, Digital and Export Growth

   
   

   Wellington’s creative, digital, screen, gaming and knowledge-intensive industries are globally competitive and central to the capital’s future growth story.

   
   

   We are calling on the next Government to:

   
   

   • Maintain internationally competitive settings for the screen, gaming and digital sectors and support the growth of creative and technology exports.

     
     

   • Promote Wellington internationally as a place for creative, digital and technology investment.

     
     

   • Support Wellington’s city centre as a national arts, entertainment and screen industry precinct, with investment in new major events used to attract visitors, investment and talent.

     
     

   • Support greater SME participation in international trade missions and market visits, ensuring a broader range of business owners and leaders can access growth, export and investment opportunities.

     
     

Our Vision

Wellington should be New Zealand’s leading city for private sector growth: a place where businesses invest with confidence, talent chooses to build careers, ideas become globally successful companies, regulation enables enterprise, and infrastructure supports opportunity.

These priorities provide a practical roadmap to grow Wellington’s private sector, lift productivity, attract investment, and strengthen the capital’s contribution to New Zealand’s economic success.

*These priorities are informed by Business Central’s recent economic research and engagement with businesses across the Wellington region. See report here.

Download a pdf copy of our Wellington Business Election Priorities 2026:

Wellington Election Priorities Report August 2026.pdf

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