For businesses trying to manage their staff, the government’s commandeering of rapid antigen tests (RATs) is a huge blow and illustrates just how little some bureaucrats understand about how the private sector operates and what we need to get through the coming months.

In early February, I wrote to Transport Minister Michael Wood pleading for his assistance in helping break the deadlock over the provision of RATs for businesses. Unlike several his colleagues, Minister Wood is a pragmatic and proactive minister that we are lucky to have in the transport portfolio. The problem is he is just one cog in a very large, cumbersome, and increasingly draconian machine.

The fundamental lack of understanding of how the supply chain works within the agencies tasked with making the key decisions that impact workers and businesses – namely the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry of Health – is staggering. They do not recognise that all links in the supply chain need to be maintained to make sure it operates effectively. They do not seem to understand that if large swathes of freight and logistics workers must go through long periods of isolation, then this will have severe consequences on the provision of essential goods and medical supplies to our communities.

Suffice to say, I have absolutely zero confidence in MBIE’s register of critical workers and the ability of the Ministry of Health to deliver RATs where and when they are needed. Just for road transport alone, a register will need to individually account for about 33,000 workers and I have no idea how each of those workers will be judged against MBIE’s criteria. I am also concerned that traversing this bureaucratic minefield will be needlessly onerous for the many small and medium- sized businesses in the road transport sector just trying to survive through these difficult times.

What really frustrates me is that so much of the stress on businesses and workers is not because of Omicron, but because of the inflexibility of the government in handling it.

All over the world now, businesses are managing their employees’ health with readily available RAT tests. With the increased availability of vaccinations, Covid-specific treatments and governments willing to relinquish responsibility for health monitoring to individuals, families and business, the rest of the world is successfully managing the pandemic. New Zealand, with its closed-off mentality, has been left behind and remains locked in a constant state of fear.

Wellington bureaucrats must get with the programme, and fast. They need to step out of the way and let businesses do what they do best, get on with the job while managing their workforce. If not, then Cabinet ministers need to be prepared for the backlash when the supply chain breaks down and large numbers of truck drivers, or other supply chain workers, cannot work due to not meeting MBIE’s critical category or getting rapid antigen tests on time.

Moving on, the recently announced consumer price index for the December quarter that saw the rate of inflation balloon out to 5.9% would not exactly have come as a shock to most people – it has been obvious to all that the cost of living has been rising significantly. Essential commodities, such as food and fuel, are eating up more and more of our paycheques, which has affected our amount of discretionary spending.

This, of course, is one of the ways in which inflation infiltrates every part of the economy and the transport sector is certainly not immune from that. While Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand will continue to advocate for a reduction in costly compliance for operators, I recognise that outside of this, there is not a lot we can do that will reduce operators’ costs. However, one thing that our sector can do to insulate itself from the worst extremes of rising inflation is to make sure that we charge fair and reasonable freight rates.

As we know, freight rates in New Zealand have traditionally been low. This has been great for our customers – New Zealand’s producers, exporters and consumers – and in good economic times, we just about get away with it. However, as we confront some significant economic bumps in the road and as an industry see our costs of doing business go up, our already small margins are being squeezed.

The industry can only respond to these pressures by lifting freight rates across the board and ensuring transport operators maintain profitability during this difficult period. If we don’t, not only will many operators not survive, but those who do will have to make significant operational changes that may have a detrimental long-term impact on their business and the future recruitment and retention of good staff.

The professional and timely service road transport provides to our customers should not be underestimated. As such, we must make sure we place a fair value on what we do and our critical role in the economy.