The prime minister says the government and business owners are equal players, and must work together to drive economic growth.At a Rotorua Business Chamber event last week, its chief executive Melanie Short told Christopher Luxon some were questioning how long they could hang on as they grappled with escalating costs.Luxon told the audience some businesses had a "parent-child mentality" and too often looked to the government for help.Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds labelled that a patronising lecture, and said businesses were asking for an "economy that works", not a handout.Luxon's office said Edmonds has mischaracterised his comments.The prime minister told Morning Report on Monday he acknowledged businesses were doing it tough, but his point to the Rotorua audience was that they and the government needed to work together."I believe very strongly that government, business, community leaders actually are equal in our society," he said."They do different things, but they need to work together on the challenges and the obstacles, and also the opportunities that we have."They each played a part in driving economic growth, Luxon said."As a business owner, your job is to make sure that you actually have great commercial returns, build an awesome culture, have a great customer experience."And the government's job is to make sure we get the settings right: employment law, RMA (Resource Management Act), investment boosts, trade agreements, those things."Business confidence was currently at a very good level, Luxon said.