Andrew Little: the future of work
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8:03 am, December 1st, 2014 - 98 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, jobs, labour, workers' rights -
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Tena koutou katoa. Thanks for joining me today.
Can I acknowledge Annette King, Labour’s Deputy Leader, Grant Robertson, our Finance Spokesperson, and the other members of our Labour Caucus.
Can I also acknowledge Michael Barnett from the Auckland Chamber of Commerce who helped us put today’s event together.
This morning I want to outline what will be a signature piece of work for the parliamentary Labour Party over the next two years. It will confront what I and many others regard as one of the biggest medium and long-term challenges facing New Zealand and many other countries: the future of work.
This is important to me because I’ve spent my working life making sure the labour market operates in a way that ensures people have secure jobs, decent work, and the opportunity to get ahead.
For myself, I had a pretty classic Kiwi upbringing. I grew up in Taranaki. My dad was a school teacher and my mum worked as a secretary for an optician.
They taught me to work hard, respect others and, most of all, to think for myself. Given that they were both committed National Party voters, they probably did a better job of that than they would have liked.
My Mum and Dad worked hard to provide for us and make sure we got a good start in life. Because of them I was able to do well at school and go to university where I studied law.
After graduating, I went and worked as a solicitor for the Engineers Union. There I enjoyed a highly varied employment law practice, helping to make sure that workers got good conditions and they weren’t taken advantage of.
I’ve always been driven by the need to see justice done, or for that matter, to see injustice challenged.
The injustice I talk about is when the powerful and the privileged take advantage of the weak.
At a time when we are reflecting how some employers are making unilateral deductions from staff to pay for stock losses caused by customers, I recall that one of the first cases I worked on was about exactly this issue.
A service station manager claimed $100 was missing from the till, possibly the result of a drive off. He also claimed a meat pie had been stolen. He insisted the two staff on duty each pay $50 towards the lost petrol, and when one of them, Daniel, who I represented, refused, he was sacked for his refusal and for stealing the pie.
Daniel, a teenager at the time, was able to challenge the unfairness meted out to him, including producing a receipt for the pie. Daniel got justice and his employer learnt a lesson in due process.
One of my big fears is that expectations we once had of fair treatment at work are fast evaporating.
The reason I chose to work for people like Daniel then is the same reason I chose to enter politics a few years ago.
I believe that the law and government policy should provide safety and security for people and a level playing field so they can get on with making the best of their own lives.
I don’t think New Zealanders ask that much of their Government or their laws.
All they want is to know that if they work hard and pay their taxes, they’ve got a decent chance, they can save a bit for retirement and try to give their kids a leg up.
And if circumstances make work impossible, people still have the means to live in dignity.
We don’t ask the world. We don’t want something for nothing or for anyone to do it all for us.
All New Zealanders want is a fair shot.
Whether it’s in work or their own business, New Zealanders want to know they’ve got opportunities and can get ahead.
It’s a pretty simple social contract. You do your bit, there are good rules that make sure you are fairly rewarded and have some certainty, and there is help and support there if you need it.
But right now, more and more people are doing the right thing, but they aren’t seeing the results.
Because if we’re honest, even some of the most simple aspirations are becoming harder and harder to fulfil.
We all know this.
It’s becoming harder to find secure, well paid jobs. It’s becoming harder to buy a home, harder to afford to start a family or retire.
And this isn’t just a problem for the low paid.
More and more people on good incomes, mid-level incomes, are finding it harder to save, harder to pay the mortgage, harder to keep their businesses afloat, harder to get ahead.
People are feeling the squeeze. Even though they are working their guts out.
That simple social contract is breaking down.
The security that should come with hard work simply isn’t there for people like it should be.
And this isn’t just a question of economic performance, because what we are finding is that even when growth ticks up, too many people still feel insecure.
We are seeing a new insecurity in disturbing new working arrangements like zero hour contracts, where someone who ostensibly has a full time role can have their hours changing massively from week to week, or can find themselves with no hours at all for the week.
I want to be clear, I’m not blaming just the current Government for this new era of squeeze and insecurity.
The erosion of the economic security that New Zealanders should be enjoying is bigger than any one policy or decision.
These are issues caused by the fundamental settings of our economy, the priorities about where we are investing, and who our economy is meant to be delivering for.
It’s about the fact that too much of our investment capital is going into speculation, instead of into supporting the next great Kiwi business that is going to create jobs and grow our wealth.
It’s about the fact that the average house in Auckland earned more money last year than the average worker.
It’s about the fact that incomes aren’t keeping up with the cost of living, which means a greater reliance on consumer credit and private debt.
Our economy, like our laws and our government, is only useful if it’s about delivering for people. And that means everyone.
People don’t serve economic principles or forces. Economic forces are the product of what people do.
We’ve forgotten our economy is meant to be about people, and as a result more and more people are being left out. Their efforts aren’t being rewarded.
So let’s be clear about something else. The decline in economic security isn’t because New Zealanders aren’t working as hard as they used to. In fact, New Zealanders work some of the longest hours in the developed world.
What’s happened is that the underlying structures of our economy have changed, and our policies haven’t changed to keep up.
People on middle incomes, people who own a small business, people who work on contract, who are doing their best to earn a crust and get ahead, they are feeling forgotten.
Mostly because, in policy terms, they are.
I want to be clear about something here too: The Labour Party has a challenge to update our definition of working people in a world where the nature of work itself is changing.
Because today, being the party of working people isn’t just about being there for New Zealanders who work 9 to 5 on a salary or on a shift for an hourly wage.
It has to be about being there for all the people who make their living from their own work, who are grafting to improve their lot. People who, to use the old phrase, work for their money instead of having their money work for them.
When I travelled around the country during the recent elections, people often told me they didn’t see themselves reflected in what we were saying.
And that meant they didn’t feel like there was anybody in politics who was looking out for them.
So today I have a clear message about that: to people working hard to get a small business off the ground, to people choosing to work on contract, people who are their own bosses, and are thinking about maybe being able to take on someone else: we get it.
And the Labour Party will work for you.
We have always been the party of hard, often physical work, and the party that sees work as a means for social and economic advancement.
The party that wants to see everyone get ahead.
To make this happen, we will be the party with a long term economic plan. A plan that’s about giving people the tools they need and restoring economic security to New Zealanders.
We will be the party that makes sure when you work hard, you get the rewards.
That means having good rules that give people certainty and fairness. And rules that mean people can seize opportunities with confidence.
The truth is, we need to be bold enough to face up to some of the big issues.
And one of those is the changing nature of work.
My son Cam is 13 and it’s pretty obvious to me that the workforce he is going to be entering in a just a few years’ time is going to be totally different from the one that I went into after university.
For Cam’s generation, there are some big challenges ahead.
New technology is rapidly transforming our world and our work.
It’s hard to understate just how important these changes are going to be for working people.
The ongoing digital revolution is as world changing as the industrial revolution was 200 years ago, and to adapt we are going to have to make decisions now if we are to be ready so people are not left out.
For example, experts from all around the world are already warning that a greater reliance on technology and automation is going to mean that many of the jobs we rely on today won’t be there in the future, and neither will the wages that go with them. One study completed last year shows that 47% of all jobs in the United States are at high risk from automation.[1]
There’s no point in extolling the virtues of a change to much less labour-intensive work without also confronting what that means for people and society in general.
At the same time, we are seeing more and more people, especially younger people, who are embracing the new economy.
More and more people today are their own boss, and are working to make their own ideas succeed.
We need a Government that is going to champion those people, while fighting to make sure that no one is left out or left behind by an economy that is changing in ways we could never have predicted.
We need a Government that is going to prepare us to seize every opportunity that is coming.
Because I see huge potential benefits for New Zealand in an economy that is driven more by ideas and innovation. That’s a space we are really strong in already.
A major theme of my work as Leader will be developing a long-term economic plan that’s about making the most of the changing nature of work, that’s about increasing productive investment, and building an education system that’s fit for the challenges of the 21st century.
To do this, Labour will establish a Future of Work Commission to work with New Zealanders over the next two years to develop policies for creating more jobs, creating better jobs, and getting New Zealand ready for the economic challenges of the next twenty years.
The purpose of the Commission will be to look at how we adapt to the rapidly approaching changes ahead; how we make sure ours is a society and economy that generates work and incomes for a stable and prosperous community, and how we prepare for the likelihood of multiple changes in jobs over a working life, including periods of no paid work.
This project will be chaired by our finance spokesperson, Grant Robertson, and will include portfolios such as social development, economic development, education, labour, skills and training, and ICT.
The Commission will get around New Zealand. It will hold public seminars and workshops and will draw attention to issues around work in New Zealand that need to be addressed.
It will engage external advisors and experts including, where possible, from overseas. It will work closely with local universities and academics. It will be a major piece of work.
We’re doing this because although we can see a major challenge ahead of us, we don’t pretend to have all the answers.
Labour is going to spend the next three years focused on solutions, not sitting on the sidelines complaining.
We will work with all New Zealanders, from the smoko room to the boardroom, to build a plan to grow our economy and take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us. I’m confident we’ll do this best by working together.
This means Labour will fight the next election with a long-term economic plan built on the best expert advice and the real world experience of our communities and businesses. We will equip New Zealand to face the economic challenges of the next twenty years, including planning for work that supports and enhances the environment and mitigates climate change.
In the end, it is Labour’s historical mission to make sure the great social contract of mutual gain and mutual support, which is so important for peace and stability, is periodically modernised to meet today’s challenges. We are now facing one of those times.
Conclusion
I think we have some incredible opportunities ahead of us as a country.
Opportunities to grow our wealth, create new and better jobs, give our workers both more opportunities at work and better protections.
We have the opportunity to make sure that work in the future remains the best path to economic and social security.
We’ve got the opportunity to renew the basic social contract that is at the heart of our Kiwi way of life.
To make sure that New Zealanders who are working hard can get ahead. To make sure that effort is rewarded.
To make sure that each of us has a fair shot at making the most of our lives and fulfilling our aspirations.
I look forward to working with all of you to help make this happen, together.
Thank you.
[1] Carl Frey and Michael Osborne, University of Oxford.
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Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...1 week ago
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You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...1 week ago - D-day for the government
The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
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The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...1 week ago - The Weight of the World
As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel. The header image is from Walthamstow, London The city centre now has a few stretches of street where the space has been repurposed to a people and place focused design from full time traffic use. These are a great ...1 week ago
- An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch
As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago
- Release: Government should be transparent on live exports
Targeted consultation on reinstating live cattle exports by sea won’t allow the New Zealand public to have their say. ...52 minutes ago - NZ’s global climate rankings plummet as Govt removes agriculture from ETS
The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...15 hours ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...16 hours ago
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The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...17 hours ago
- Release: National doesn’t care about manufacturing
The National Government is walking away from our manufacturing sector with constant reports of closures and job losses. ...18 hours ago
- Release: David Parker speech – Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change
David Parker's speech from the University of Auckland's forum on Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change in September 2024. ...18 hours ago
- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...20 hours ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...20 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...23 hours ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...23 hours ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...1 day ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...2 days ago
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The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...2 days ago
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- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
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Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
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Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...4 days ago
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- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
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Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
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As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
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The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
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Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
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Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
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- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must pursue independent foreign policy
The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...16 hours ago - Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...17 hours ago
- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...17 hours ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
People in Northland and Auckland will benefit from a new machine for cancer treatment installed at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland City Hospital. The MV5 linear accelerator, or LINAC machine, officially opened today targets cancer tumours with pinpoint accuracy. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says this new, ...18 hours ago
- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Europe for high-level talks with France, Germany and the United Kingdom next week. "Since taking office almost a year ago, the Coalition Government has emphasised the importance we place on New Zealand's traditional and likeminded diplomatic and ...18 hours ago
- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...20 hours ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
The Government is proposing two major changes to name suppression laws that will put the views of victims of sexual violence first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We are committed to restoring law and order and these two proposed changes will help ensure the victims of crime are put at ...20 hours ago
- Government moving forward with Regional Deals
Cabinet has agreed to invite all regions to submit proposals for Regional Deals between central and local government that drive economic growth and deliver the infrastructure our country needs, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Inviting all regions to propose a Regional Deal that boosts ...21 hours ago
- MSA pilot participant update
One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...21 hours ago
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Delivered at Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School Good morning and thank you Deputy Vice Chancellor Lithander for your warm welcome and for inviting me to open Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School today. A Special thanks to the University of Auckland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ...22 hours ago
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Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. “This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is ...23 hours ago
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Ensuring New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people is the vision at the heart of the Government’s new Child and Youth Strategy, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. “Childhood represents a huge opportunity to set people on a positive path towards living ...1 day ago
- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
- Speech to the National Quality Forum 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
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Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...2 days ago
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The Government has released its second Quarterly Investment Report (QIR) which shows substantial work still to be done by agencies to improve investment reporting and meet the Government’s expectations, Infrastructure and Acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “New Zealand has significant infrastructure and investment needs. The Government is determined to get ...2 days ago
- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...2 days ago
- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
The free ride for gangs is over when the clock strikes midnight tonight, with tough new laws officially coming into effect, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell say. “Gang patches will no longer be able to be worn in public. To earn the right to wear a ...2 days ago
- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...2 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...2 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
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Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
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Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...3 days ago
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A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...3 days ago
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Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...3 days ago
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Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...3 days ago
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Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...3 days ago
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- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...4 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
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Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- Launching the White Ribbon Ride
The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, was on hand to wish riders well at the start of the North Island leg of the White Ribbon Ride in Whakatāne this morning. The ride helps mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ...5 days ago
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Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...6 days ago
- NZ signs trade deal with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has signed a pioneering trade agreement that prioritises New Zealand’s sustainable exports at a ceremony during APEC in Peru today. “The Agreement on Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), between Costa Rica, Iceland, and Switzerland was concluded in July of this year and opens up significant ...6 days ago
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Five new Aquaculture Settlement Areas will help ensure Ngāi Tahu shares in the opportunities aquaculture offers for Southland’s economy, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “The Aquaculture Settlement Areas (ASAs) I’m announcing today set aside space so the Crown and Ngāi Tahu can assess their potential for aquaculture development. ...7 days ago
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The terms of reference for a review of the performance of the electricity market have been released. The review, initiated by the Coalition Government during the power crisis in winter will look at whether current regulations and market design support economic growth and access to reliable and affordable electricity, Energy Minister ...7 days ago
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Kia ora koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai, piki mai. Ki te mihi atu ahau, ki te manwhenua nei, Te Atiawa, Ngāti toa rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you, Andy, for your introduction. Let me acknowledge you as the new Chief Executive of the Social Investment ...7 days ago
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Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg has travelled to Australia to attend the PACER Plus Ministers Meeting in Brisbane. “Trade plays a critical role in driving employment, economic growth, and improving the standards of living in the Pacific Region. The Government is strongly committed to supporting Pacific Island countries ...1 week ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne IoanaB/Shutterstock The United States Food and Drug Administration has just approved the first-ever clinical trial that uses CRISPR-Cas13 RNA editing. Its ...31 minutes ago - Yes, you still need to use sunscreen, despite what you’ve heard on TikTok
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Lee, PhD Candidate, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland Karolina Grabowska/Pexels Summer is nearly here. But rather than getting out the sunscreen, some TikTokers are urging followers to chuck it out and go sunscreen-free. They claim it’s healthier ...31 minutes ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keller Kopf, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Charles Darwin University Laxmikant Ameenagad, Shutterstock In humans and other animals, ageing is generally associated with a decline in biological function. But scientists are now discovering older animals perform vital roles in populations and ecosystems. ...32 minutes ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matej Lipar, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University Author provided/Google Earth Earlier this year, a caver was poring over satellite images of the Nullarbor Plain when he came across something unexpected: an enormous, mysterious scar etched ...32 minutes ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney Once located 250 metres to the east of the Art Gallery of South Australia, the grand beaux-arts style Jubilee Exhibition Building was constructed to house the ...32 minutes ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Greenhow, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University Linda George/Shutterstock The ten-year anniversary of the death of much-loved Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes falls on November 27. The 25-year-old’s life was tragically cut short in 2014 when a bouncer ...1 hour ago
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Treasury likely to downgrade economic forecast while Chris Bishop says the government won’t be ‘a slave to a surplus’, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Recession will be deeper and last longer — Treasury At a recent Spinoff ...2 hours ago - Knowing superstitions aren’t real doesn’t stop us behaving superstitiously – why?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Gomes-Ng, Senior Lecturer of Psychology, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Former New Zealand prime minister John Key has three white rabbits painted on his helicopter, a nod to his “massively superstitious” habit of repeating “white rabbits” three times at ...3 hours ago
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The coalition has "absolutely no intention of listening to the evidence that comes out of their experiment", Labour MP says. ...4 hours ago
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Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 hours ago - Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 hours ago
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The Government’s economic adviser is sending a message it doesn’t want to hear – superannuation is increasingly unaffordable The post Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 hours ago
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A man abused by a former political figure is "immensely relieved" at a government proposal to end secrecy around sex offenders' identities. ...4 hours ago
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There is plenty yet to play out, but the next election is at this rate shaping up as trio versus trio, writes Toby Manhire. A subplot of this week’s historic hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been the sight of the three opposition parties presenting a unified front. Te Pāti Māori ...4 hours ago
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Opinion: The immediate horror of nuclear weapon explosions – the blinding flash, crushing blast wave, and radioactive inferno – is well documented.But what nuclear-armed nations either don’t grasp or won’t admit, is far more chilling: how their weapons could devastate even countries thousands of kilometres from any mushroom clouds.The collapse ...4 hours ago
- This week’s bestselling books – November 22
FICTION1 Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Sample dialogue, all from one chapter:“That can’t be,” replied Taona doubtfully.“You were right. The pā is unnervingly quiet,” Taona murmured.“The Hākuwai,” Motukia breathed. “Our grandfathers told us they rarely saw the Hākuwai in daylight,” Motukia muttered.“Their fight would have been futile ...4 hours ago
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Good to see that Andrew is wanting to move the Labour Party towards the middle ground, towards ‘the boardroom’ as he puts it. He is a realist who sees that Labour must nail its colours to the centre of politics and move away from the more extreme left policies of the Greens. That is the only way forward for the party.
Middle ground? The speech is quite radical in some respects and hints at the redistribution of wealth and some solid central planning of the economy.
I think you may have misunderstood Andrew’s message, but your support is welcome anyway. Appealing to people who do not fit a narrow definition of ‘work’ does not mean a move to the centre, it means finding left wing policies that resonate with them. It seems to me to actually be an abandonment of the Blairite surrender to neo-liberalism that has hobbled labour parties worldwide for the last 20 years.
Actually, he is expanding the Labour Party focus in more than one direction. He is not taking some narrow focus on the “middle ground”. Nor do I see Labour’s centre move towards “the boardroom” in that speech.
And he is particularly focusing Labour on a working class where:
Hardly shifting Labour to focus on the boardroom interests.
He focuses on the increasing insecurity of work, and includes the unemployed and underemployed as people Labour will be focusing on. He is also expanding the notion of “working class”.
He says:
The starting point is in “the smoko room” but he says Labour will also work with those in the boardroom.
And he also says:
He says Labour will be looking at the changing nature of work –
Its like I went to sleep and woke up in a different world. This is a fantastic start.
+100…great speech for new Zealand workers …and ALL New Zealanders
Andrew Little is showing real Labour Party leadership and he is offering hope to many thousands of New Zealand workers who are struggling to survive financially and maintain a good standard of living
The boardroom interests are the interests of the 1% and are definitely not of the centre but that of the extreme right-wing.
‘It’s about the fact that the average house in Auckland earned more money last year than the average worker.’
And he’s talking about the average wage. The median wage in Auckland has dropped to $25,000.
I just hope he also considers those doing unpaid work such as raising kids and caring for older family members and keeping communities going.
He did mention people not being in paid work more than once.
It sounds like you are referring to the median income, which includes retirees, stay at home parents, other beneficiaries.
I took it to mean that the house prices have risen so fast that the increase in house prices per year are more than what an average worker earns in an year.
Yes. I think people are being too focused on details here. The intent of the line is clear and it works as a brief soundbite.
This (in the link below) is what Little is touching upon.
http://youtu.be/7Pq-S557XQU
And this (in the link below) is what Bridges wants to oversee.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/63664656/bridges-nz-can-take-lead-on-driverless-vehicles
a good speech for the audience he was speaking to..
..and a good showing that ..unlike asset-stripper key..he is a man with plan..
..and he referred to something largely ignored/left-unspoken by labour leaders for so long..
“..We’ve got the opportunity to renew the basic social contract that is at the heart of our Kiwi way of life..”
..to me that speaks universal basic income/poverty-busting..or the like..
Yep, Vernon didn’t appreciate it…”Andrew Little’s underwhelming speech ” wow, how utterly facile can you get?
This shows me Andrew Little’s time spent with workers, and prior to that students, have given him a real insight into the needs/ aspirations of real NZers, and the real issues ( not flags ) that face us, and our families.
In short, we can restore hope that the vast potential of New Zealand is once again restored, rather than squandered.
Applause and Huge sigh of relief.
“…And if circumstances make work impossible, people still have the means to live in dignity…”
That one word – dignity – is the fault line between the right and the left on welfare. It is good to Little contending that those on benefit deserve more that just subsistence. That they need to also live with dignity.
And it is good to see the Labour party talking about work and workers.
Great stuff. Andrew Little is going from strength to strength in my esteem.
Following on from Little’s statement:
“I want to be clear about something here too: The Labour Party has a challenge to update our definition of working people in a world where the nature of work itself is changing.”,
It got me thinking about global challenges of low paid work in other countries (and effective slavery) which affect us here, through low cost imported goods……affecting our manufacturing. Would be good to hear how Little would tackle the more systemic problems of the global labour system (acknowledging that it’s optimistic to think that NZ can overhaul a global system……but we have punched above our weight in social policy in the past).
“[T]he average house in Auckland earned more money last year than the average worker”.
So true and so sad …
Agree Micky, but it is also a great sound bite. He seems to be good at them, including my favourite, “cut the crap”
that’s the line that bothered me because the implication’s not true. maybe he created that hole deliberately for the opposition to jump all over and give him the opportunity to further expand …
i’m not convinced though or sure it was a good idea if he did. in these early days i’d rather see ‘no’ room for argument.
There is a really interesting discussion about land banking by Bernard Hickey here.
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/73104/bernard-hickey-argues-government-and-auckland-council-should-ramp-their-attempts-chang#comment-form
It hints that National’s SHAs will not work but KiwiBuild would help move NZ towards that productive economy if they break the land banking cartel.
There’s a really easy way to break the land banking cartel – build lots of high density state housing that’s available to everybody at 25% of household income.
Or do on a bigger scale all over the country something like this.
http://transportblog.co.nz/2014/12/01/an-urban-development-agency-for-auckland/
Well something has to be done, capitalism has created too much fallout for too many people for too long. Full time, regular hours workers on a living wage are a fading group. Divisions among the working class and unwaged and immigrant sectors are rife.
Until enough sleepy Hobbits wake up the least we need from the next left government is the right to strike and industry agreements and standards restored.
Ultimately people have to fight for and defend their own gains, which is where neo liberalism has been so insidious by running down democratic organisations and participation so capacity to fight is reduced and alienation increased.
So if the social democrats are talking UBI and recognising self employed and dependent contracting and SME issues that is a good thing. People other than wage workers have defaulted to an aspirational tory world view for too long.
Another great speech from Andrew Little!
I don’t think he’s had a bad day yet. And meanwhile, Key has been having a bad day everyday.
This is the sort of stuff Labour need to be doing. I saw many strong hints towards a UBI in there. And I like that he is acknowledging how work is changing.
+100… “strong hints towards a UBI in there. And I like that he is acknowledging how work is changing”….good important points..
IMO everybody seems to be taking what they hear from the speech, and although the rhetoric sounds good, it doesn’t really say anything of substance. Leaving us with more questions than answers
For example, how do Labour plan to increase investment in the productive sector? Or how will Labour ensure people’s work efforts are fairly rewarded?
Until his new Future of Work Commission establishes a plan, there is really little of substance to comment on.
have you looked at Labour’s policies? Lots of information there on what Labour will do.
Implying his new Future of Work Commission is being designed to merely rehash old Labour policy? CGT etc…
No, don’t be daft. I’m saying that Labour already have many policies in place that answer your question about eg how Labour will ensure people’s work efforts are fairly rewarded. No point in looking at things in isolation. You wanted some evidence of a plan, go and have a look, it might answer some of your questions (assuming they are genuine and not just trying to knock Little’s work commission idea).
Yes, Labour do have policy in place that answer the questions, such as their CGT, which is why I asked are you implying they have nothing new?
Expanding on my last post.
It all comes back to my initial post you replied too. The speech leaves us with more questions than answers.
Little says they don’t have all the answers and directing me to policy merely questions which policy are they planning to keep, change or do away with?
As for his new Future of Work Commission, the notion is good but not if it’s merely a vehicle to rehash the same old policy they currently have.
Therefore, as stated in my earlier post, one can’t really comment until we see their plan.
So if you have ideas around this and I’m picking from this
“This (in the link below) is what Little is touching upon.
http://youtu.be/7Pq-S557XQU
And this (in the link below) is what Bridges wants to oversee.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/63664656/bridges-nz-can-take-lead-on-driverless-vehicles”
you do, then put your name forward for the Future of Working Commission so we can ensure it does what it needs to.
“Humans Need Not Apply”: A Solution
http://youtu.be/fnJTWzf8kH4
I agree this man wants to take New Zealand back to when the unions ruled NZ in 1914 so if all you Labour supporters want that good luck that means no Internet,technology or any sky tv
Gee Neville what makes you think that?
Neville get your hisTory right Unions weren,t very strong up until the 1950s in NZ.
Wages were low right up till the 1950,s.
New Zealand was in constant recession from the 1880s.
Facts not Fantasy Neville.
Unions mean higher wages for everybody as employer strategy is to pay non union members to keep them from joining a union.
Higher wages means more economic growth.
Something your against Naive Nev!
@ Chairman :
“Until his new Future of Work Commission establishes a plan, there is really little of substance to comment on.”
There is, in fact, plenty. There you are – an example-free response to your example-free statement.
“Yes, Labour do have policy in place that answer the questions, such as their CGT, which is why I asked are you implying they have nothing new?”
New is not the point – the pre-election policy is not old as in need of replacing. Even the CGT, best known of all thanks to media distortion, is not being replaced because inherently bad but due to how easy it is to misrepresent.
New is eg when the PM ‘calls for fresh ideas on tackling poverty’ so he can pretend to be waiting for feedback while planning to go on doing nothing about it.
Final question :
Do you troll
A) at minimum wage
B) at living wage
C) on results-based contract, so much for each offence taken with a bonus for each thread successfully derailed
D) on your own time, wearing your own hat
?????
Context, George.
My example was given in a post above. Therefore, feel free to demonstrate yours.
New policy is exactly the point. Unless you are of the belief (which it seems you are) none of their policy is flawed or disliked (not misunderstood) by a good number of voters?
As for CGT, the notion it will rein in speculation and divert investment is flawed. This is largely highlighted by the fact Labour planned to capitalize from the new tax revenue, thus anticipating on speculation in property to continue on to produce this tax revenue stream.
I’m sure a number of workers would agree, increasing the retirement entitlement is not ensuring they are being fairly rewarded for their work effort.
Moreover, a number of voters don’t find Increasing the minimum wage to have it largely taken away by compulsory KiwiSaver very encouraging either.
I’m not a troll. I’m a left wing voter that struggles to vote Labour. But I’m not the topic.
Also my impression. He seems to want to do away with the policy they went into the last election with, and run a think tank to come up with new stuff. No filling in that sandwich.
Anecdotal examples of deteriorating conditions for employees:
1. Employees being told to use their own computers at work
2. Employees being told to pay for work related training courses
3. Employees working overtime without extra compensation.
4. Employees having to return to work twice in a day to work split hours at the discretion of the employer
5. University graduates working for less that a living wage
I’m sure others could add much more to this list ……….
I suspect if Labour look to addressing the wider working conditions faced by all NZ people they will gain wide support.
I can confirm these happen to me:
1. Check (not asked, it just happened because work computers were too slow and I had a lot of work to get through).
3. Check (although not “without extra compensation” but without compensation at all).
4. It’s just expected that I’m willing to do that.
5. I’m a Bachelor of Science working for minimum, and they even sometimes get my hours correct. Remarkably, the errors always favour the work place, I’ve never been overpaid.
To your list, I’ll add:
6. Employees told to spend “just a few minutes every day” cleaning up, as part of their job, off the clock, unpaid and unrecorded. Not doing so would get you fired.
7. Employees expected to be available for work at any notice. Not being available means punishment, commonly by getting no offers of extra work for a while.
8. Employees discouraged from joining the union.
9. When raising issues of workplace rights, employees get told “if you don’t like it you don’t have to work here.”
If Labour start a campaign based around holding employers (especially wealthy ones) to legal working conditions, they would have taken a big step toward winning my vote back.
Thank god Cunliffe’s gone and we can talk some sense. Amirite?
[r0b: Please pick one handle and stick to it]
Peter,
with unions being eroded every day, workers going for jobs and not getting it if they say “yes” to the question ” do you intend joining a union?” ……slave trade alive and well in NZ.
When I started nursing 30 years ago, all 3 unions had an hour each to come and talk to us……we made an informed choice even!!wow, how things have changed, and not for the better.
This speech makes me feel optimistic.
Sure it’s not what I would have loved him to say. I guess there has to be a degree of “not scaring the horses”.
But I see Labour taking charge of the narrative, starting to tell home truths about the reality of the situation we find ourselves in, and build a vision for meeting the critical challenges we can no longer deny or avoid. One that almost everyone can understand the need for and appreciate. Even take some reassurance from in these highly uncertain times.
I hope I’m not imagining it, but it feels like a palpable change from Labour of old, behaving like a desperate adolescent – greasing-up to, and going along with any shit the bullies dish out to anyone who can’t fight back. And generally being craven and pathetic.
Maybe Labour is on the cusp of becoming part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Our job is to keep the pressure on.
We can certainly hope so.
Great speech by Little and the good thing is he means business. The CTU need to arrange a nationwide rally opposed to ‘Zero Hours’ strike while the iron is hot, after highlighting of abuse of power by some Employer’s.
Hurry along Helen Kelly and the rest of you ex teachers get off the beltway treadmill and getting umm organising!
A while ago I wrote on here about my mother, aged 70, a small business owner and life-long Labour voter, who had voted National last election out of fear that Labour Party policies would put her out of business.
I was shouted down and called a fool, and my poor old mum was made out to be some kind of greedy capitalist lasher of the working class.
No one grasped my point, showed any interest in or acknowledged the work she does, and couldn’t have cared less about her or the possibility she might have gone out of business had Labour won.
Mr Little has now acknowledged that small business owners and the self-employed are workers, and are people who work for money as opposed to people for whom money works.
It’s common sense talk like this that will give middle NZ the confidence to vote Labour again, the feeling that he will look after all of us ordinary working NZers, and not operate as some kind of state funded charity who will pour all our hard-earned money down the toilet.
I also note he was wise enough not to attack John Key – he might be the only one in the Labour Party who understands that most ordinary NZers are tired of it. And what’s more important – it won’t change how we vote.
He’s just the kind of opposition leader we need – and at this rate he might get my mother, and possibly even her “fool of a son”, voting for him.
Yes, I recall that. Weren’t you and your mum complaining about the minimum being raised?
@Jay
It’s common sense talk like this that will give middle NZ the confidence to vote Labour again, the feeling that he will look after all of us ordinary working NZers, and not operate as some kind of state funded charity who will pour all our hard-earned money down the toilet.
I had the feeling that much of the Labour talk being about helping those really struggling, there was little for the people who were earning and if they were small employers, possibly have a few employees. The Party did sound like a not for profit charity at times.
It’s important that Labour take an interest in them. One way they could help tiny and SME businesses is by offering special courses on running a business, and handling obligations to staff and how to look after them with good relations on both sides. Staff relations would be stressed as being as important for success as checking staff and customer theft.
@ Matthew
I thought that was an interesting point you made on Monday? on Radionz about the median voter.
Triumph of the Median Voter Model.
Yet, Little has specifically extended the focus to include the unemployed, people on zero hour contracts, etc.
It seems to me, interpretations of this speech deliver a bit of a rorschach test.
Ahhh yes, that sounds about right.
If so, it was a masterful political speech.
or corruption of money and abuse of power, mixed with complete lack of integrity?
“…or corruption of money and abuse of power, mixed with complete lack of integrity?”
referring to Key’s hypnotism of the median voter, and throwing money at Farrar to be his magic mirror on the wall.
Meanwhile Master Hooton your spinning snake oil on Radio NZ, how people don’t care about politics. I do think most people care about the rushing through under urgency of new spy legislation.
Andrew Little talking the future of work gets people wanting to join a Union. I’m joining up 2 today, so I think your out of touch with the smoko room there Matthew. I suggest you stick to peddling your wares to the Boardroom cobber.
Skinny Kiwi tradition is not to talk politics on summer holidays,when everyyone is trying to forget the worlds problems and recharge their sole.
Hootton is dog whistling at the same time telling anyone who does are a sad person.
But you can bet your Auckland houses capital gain that poor sad we Matthew will be talking thinking politics!
Ironic& funny aye Matt the die hard Nact!
I voted Robertson, and was disappointed he missed out, and somewhat confused by the process (not trying to fight a battle, just stating a position so people can see where i come from).
That said, and moving on, I’m super impressed.
First by the initial press conferences, then the caucus reshuffle, then nailing Key without resorting to the shrill of the Greens, and now this speech.
Hope it gets good traction and that the media link it in with the performances of last week.
The direct speech is in contrast to anything Key can offer or any of Cunliffe, Shearer, or Goff (any comparisons from people with longer memories than mine?).
Importantly he’s made early moves and statements which the other three, and Cunliffe in particular, failed to do, while at the same time laying down the framework for a long game.
Good start, Labour need to spend at least the next two years taking back the “work narrative” from National.
“the average house in Auckland earned more money last year than the average worker”
Great line!
Here in Taranaki it’s hard to believe that summer has arrived – overcast, cold & showery, until I read Andrews speech.
What a great conversation starter. The world of work, especially over a couple of beers and the traditional summer bar-b.(Hope springs eternal)
The topic is a lead into many aspects of our lives that have changed so much in recent times.
How do people make better use of their leisure time? Is one example. What can most working people afford to do with their leisure time during retirement? Are current primary exports to remain as our main contributor to GDP in 10 – 20 years time?
A great opportunity to engage with others. Take the opportunity.
I’m really pleased he’s including small business owners in his focus. My partner was a builder in the 80s/90s and I ran his small company. One of the things that happened in the shift to the right was the removal of pretty much all legal protection for small businesses in the building industry. We, and many others we knew were just run over by greedy and corrupt developers and we had no ability to fight back. Many of them, including ourselves, were bankrupted (in our case the final straw was a dishonest timber company). I lost my home and was never able to recover on a teacher’s income.
+1
Labour has ignored contractors, owner/operators and small business owners for far too long, not recognising that these people are often Labour leaning, and as hard workers find the dominance and preferential treatment afforded to capitalists, big multinationals and major banks a serious pain.
I can’t argue with that. Fletchers and the like do just as well from Labour as they do from NAct. Since 1984 Labour have also been mates with the dishonest developers. Having a good look at building and putting in place some state supplier to help small builders would go a long way, along with a house building program.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11366968
Audrey Young. Can’t give Andrew Little the heads up herself.
Feels the need to point out that it initially looked like not many coming.
AL “dead pan”
J A “Least likely to use the word crap so gets to do the introduction” ….implies using thw word crap a bad thing.
Has to get quotes from others at the end of the article rather than critiquing AL plan herself.
Sounds like concentrating on the style rather than the substance. Actually saying crap is awful. With no lead in to why the word is being used.
The default political setting for small business / self-employed / contractors has been National for as long as I remember.
However all parameters around these groups have been relocated and adjusted heavily by neoliberalism to place them now in the same position as the workers of the past.
That Andrew Little has identified this phenomenon and stepped forward to represent them is a master-stroke.
Methinks the National Party will be starting to get worried …..
Go Andrew Go !
At last.
The talk of automation and its consequences…I dunno. Last time, and currently, all that has happened is a burgeoning, of mostly pointless, low and middle management positions.
Way back when, automation was going to set the worker free.
That’s what I’m all for. Sod creating jobs just for the sake of it. Re-educate ourselves, acknowledge and elevate non-job pathways to satisfaction and dignity.
Harking back to AGW and fossil fuels again – we should be finding ways to reduce the total number of jobs available (save only those that contribute to the well being of society), developing more diverse, satisfactory ways of developing and expressing our common humanity, talents and creativity, while, as a society, throwing everything we have at preparing for (if such a thing is possible and on the basis of preparing for the worst while hoping for the best) +4 degrees C hitting within the next 3 – 4 decades.
I was under the impression that Little is planning around a post-40hr week world. Putting some pressure on Labour to put that in an AGW/PO world seems more likely to be successful now than before.
I’ve been trying to get down to a 40 hour week for years. Nearly there.
At some point Little is going to have to resolve the ‘let’s work hard’ meme with the ‘let’s not have so many jobs’ bit. Interesting he’s not focussing on NZ’s problem with people having to overwork.
He did mention it though:
Of course, part of that is that we have such high unemployment as a policy setting to keep wages down.
You too should put your name forward for the working group if you have the time. There is no better shot at actively getting things on the right track than this.
Those low and middle management positions – grrrr! “Human resources’ -eeeek Back in the day they were called wages clerks and secretaries and they did very well, thank you. Now many companies seem to be full of them tripping over each other and, as far as I can make out, more nuisance than they’re worth and just sucking money from people who actually do stuff!
Agree that this is an important speech.
Andrew lays down the classic Social Democratic philosophy of using the state to moderate and mediate class conflict by arbitrating ‘fair shares’ between labour and capital, i.e. a state managed ‘social contract’.
The problem is that such social reforms under capitalism are winnable only when it serves the interests of international capital.
This goes back to the Liberals and its left wing Fabians who set up the IC&A Act in 1894. That worked OK until 1908 when declining economic conditions didn’t allow workers to get their ‘fair share’. In those days NZ was governed by the Bank of England as a financial colony.
A long period of economic instability and open class struggle ensued until workers and working farmers put the First Labour Government into power. Andrews reference to self-employed is in line with the support that working farmers gave to Labour in the 1930s after decades of economic stagnation.
Labour’s ‘social contract’ was really a ‘social contract’ with British imperialism to regulate and discipline production in NZ as part of the war effort. Labour oversaw NZ’s part in the resolution of the Great Depression by wartime Keynesianism where the state traded off its export of food for insulation of domestic manufacturing.
This ‘social contract’ fell apart when Keynesianism disintegrated at the end of the post war boom and NZ manufacturing could not longer make profits in a protected market. Muldoon proved that when capitalists threatened massive capital flight from his ‘Think Big’.
So it was the Labour Party that renegotiated this ‘social contract’ when it was forced to deregulate the economy under Rogernomics. It was replaced by the neo-liberal unsocial contract which specified rolling back labour laws 100 years. This has largely succeeded with NACTs ECA mark 2 that reduces workers to isolated individuals with no solidarity in the workplace.
So how is Andrew going to revive his Labour ‘social contract’ under the current conditions? The re-colonisation of NZ by US finance capital, and commodity exports to China, is similar to the UK colony of 100 years ago.
To recreate the Labour ‘social contract’ pre-supposes that the NZ can win some economic and political independence from international capital. But this will not be possible under current global capitalism. NZ is a powerless pawn of the two major global rivals. The US imposed TPPA will take over ownership of IP as the key to increased productivity in NZ, creating the same wage slavery that its MNCs impose on Chinese workers inside China.
Therefore, the only way of winning ‘fairness’ for workers in today’s conditions is to oppose both US and Chinese imperialist controls over the NZ state and to unite with US and Chinese workers to overthrow their respective ruling classes.
The first step will be for workers to organise fighting, democratic unions that cover all those who work for a living, paid, unpaid, or unemployed to demand work, a living wage and mount a class-wide defence of those rights.
This will mean class solidarity and class struggle as never seen before and use of methods and tactics we are now seeing daily all around the world.
The notion that working farmers voted Labour in hefty numbers in the 30s (thus playing a major role in the historic 1935 election of the Savage Government) is one of the great myths of New Zealand historiography.
The reason Labour won enough rural and semi-rural seats to take power in 1935 was not because of some, putative dramatic swing of farmers, but, in fact, largely because the Right vote was so hopelessly split. Only the very poorest farmers (on poor quality, recently-settled, indebted land) switched to Labour – and, even then, only in a few specific areas. There were, however, fairly significant swings in many of the larger rural towns.
The entire purpose of the ‘labour market’ is to ensure that those things don’t happen.
These are issues caused by the fundamental settings of our economy, the priorities about where we are investing, and who our economy is meant to be delivering for.
True but where does he go with it. Does he understand the purpose of the economy and that we can’t afford the rich?
Incorrect. Our economy has been specifically setup to produce what he and we are seeing happening. These policy setting were first introduced by the 4th Labour government.
There’s another definition that we have to change: Bludgers: People who have their money work for them.
There’s really one, complex answer to that – R&D. Personally, I’d go for a space program that looks to employ around 300,000 FTE positions.
@ draco..
..personally i wd look at setting up local industries manufacturing car parts..
..using the high-grade aluminium perfect for that task from tiwai..
..but first we have to hike the power-prices..to that smelter..
..to the current owners..who are screwing us blind..
.. can make good on their oft-repeated threats to ‘walk’..
..(we should offer them a lift to the airport..next time they threaten that one..
..stare the bastards down..!..)
Considering that cars are going the way of the dodo that seems problematical at best.
We should be doing that with every capitalist that tries the but we’ll leave whinge. We can survive and prosper without them.
Nailed!
No whinging, forward thinking, let’s go.
One thing needs to get into the air early though. All that Mr Little says is fine, but lurking in the background is the death knell of all forward thinking initiatives: taxing the rich. Say it now, say it loud. Those bludgers have to pay their share in an equal world.
” lurking in the background is the death knell of all forward thinking initiatives: taxing the rich. Say it now, say it loud. Those bludgers have to pay their share in an equal world.”
No Ross. Not if you understand the bigger picture. The solution isn’t necessarily through wealth redistribution.
Yeah, my thinking wasn’t so much about wealth distribution as funding generally. It doesn’t matter what the initiative is, it still needs to be funded in some way (from somewhere). It is at that point in the narrative that all the doomsday business apologists rise up and cry foul. We should get that crap out and over with early in the process rather than, say, during the final month of an election campaign.
Real Monetary Reform
We view government funding backwards. This is because we’ve been taught that the government is funded by taxes but this is incorrect. It is government spending that funds the entire economy and taxes are there to limit the build up of NZ$ in both the local and global economies.
Wow, talk about a Damascus moment Draco (or should that be Mr. Bastard:-). I’ll get back to that for a deeper read. But this is exactly the conversation that needs to be had now, early in the Process. Mr Little has outlined an inspiring trajectory for his supporters to follow. I’m old enough now to have seen this before. The danger I am flagging is that “where is the money going to come from” is the thing that needs to be addressed from the start, not left to ambush us at the end. I would have thought that the future of work is synonymous with monetary reform. It is money that is the devil here. It is money that will rise up and kill the best ideas if it is left to gatecrash the party of it’s own accord.
I agree with you that funding will come out to bite – the RWNJs will make sure of that.
Still, There’s this.
Great speech. Unlike John Key, Andrew Little’s “everyman” image isn’t cultivated.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/little-brings-in-narcissistic-personality-expert-2014120118
Anyone know anything about this? Possible tv 3 focussing on this guys expertise on narcissism, which is not what Little is bringing him here for?????
probably to identify and sideline or remove any narcissists from within the team
“3 News can also reveal Mr Little has brought in an Australian political expert with a doctorate in narcissistic personality to review his office.”
haha, I bet TV3 just about wet themselves when they realised they were going to be able to report that.
This article showing his analysis of Aussie Labour leader, Mark Latham, might give you a clue about his expertise:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/latham-a-narcissistic-loner-primed-to-implode-20090331-9iat.html
“He used to be the chief of staff for former Australian Labor leader Mark Latham.”
Latham was an absolute disaster. He was all over the place and probably increased Howard’s majority.
The guy did his PhD on narcissistic personalities. His expertise should be much wider. Once you get one, you don’t stay on the same topic for the rest of your life. Although the idea could be to get him to analyse Key.
Overall, I don’t like the idea of bringing an Australian expert so close to the leader. It’ll give Nact heaps of ammo, despite the fact that their orders come from Washington via Crosby Textor.
I will believe, when there is mention of government guaranteed job for all who are able and willing to work.This should be at a livable wage and other benefits.
A review of current situation:
http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/low-pay-longer-hours-and-less-social-mobility/
If Labour was going to do something about this they had nine years in which to do so; in fact they just managed the malaise.
Which is also what Key is basically doing: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/keys-vision-managing-the-malaise-of-new-zealand-capitalism/
Phil
Very good at last we have a politician who can reduce ideology to nothing but and rebuild a framework on top of the rubble that has sensible inclusions ..
While I read that, I heard Cunliffe’s voice. Do they have the same speechwriter?
It didn’t impress me much. There are heaps of Kiwis who are neither in the smoko room nor the boardroom and not anywhere between.
Also the bit about getting overseas experts where possible. WTF? It’s always possible. The point is whether it’s always necessary. I won’t be joining the Little fan club any time soon.