Going for poverty: National’s new procurement rules

Written By: - Date published: 6:51 am, March 13th, 2025 - 35 comments
Categories: capitalism, Living Wage, national, nicola willis, same old national, wages, workers' rights - Tags:

You have to hand it to Nicola Willis. She seems to get herself in the middle of all sorts of difficult situations.

She is the person directly responsible for costing the country the thick end of a billion dollars through her cancellation of the replacement Cook Strait ferries contract.

She has picked a fight with the CTU’s Craig Renney alleging that he had fabricated a quote from her when any reasonable and even moderately unreasonable reading of what happened would conclude that his press release had a misplaced quotation mark, one that was immediately corrected as soon as it was discovered.

From Thomas Coughlan at the Herald:

The spat began last October when Renney was among the journalists and analysts invited to a Treasury “lock-up” for the Government’s financial statements. Lock-ups allow journalists, analysts and others with an interest in public finance a few hours to digest important Treasury publications before they are released to the public. The CTU regularly sends someone, usually Renney.

Less than an hour after the lock-up ended, the CTU published a press release which included the following: Finance Minister Nicola Willis admitted, “The accounts show the corrosive impact of low growth and low productivity … and we are cutting back on the investments needed to lift both.” Yet there is no plan to solve this problem, Renney said.

The problem with this quotation is the quotation marks, which include words which Willis did not say, “and we are cutting back on the investments needed to lift both.”

About 50 minutes after the press release was published, Renney published the press release in a series of posts to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The posts had the quotation marks in the correct place: Finance Minister Nicola Willis admitted, “The accounts show the corrosive impact of low growth and low productivity” … but we are cutting back on the public investments needed to lift both. There is no plan to solve this problem – only further cuts.

Willis drawing such sinister conclusions when the CTU almost immediately corrected the mistake shows how dark and how combative her world view is.

Then in Parliament she claimed that because Treasury had predicted increased unemployment National should not be blamed for increased unemployment. She said this:

What I would highlight for the member is that the number of people unemployed today is markedly similar to that which was predicted in the pre-election fiscal update. So members, for your reference, if we go to Q1 for 2025, the number of people unemployed predicted at the pre-election update was 165,000. The half-year update confirmed exactly the same number. So if the member wishes to say that this is a result of Government policies, I would commend to her that she then explain why the previous Labour Government were predicting exactly the same levels of unemployment.

If only she would apply the same test to inflation, which Treasury predicted would fall, instead of claiming that National should be credited with the reduction in inflation. If National is not to blame for increased unemployment it should not be credited with reduced inflation.

It is in her announcement of new draft Government procurement rules where she has gone into Atlas right wing uber hyperdrive.

If approved the Government will not need to build new non-residential government buildings to a five-star rating standard. Who cares about the environmental benefits.

It will not have to purchase battery electric or hybrid electric vehicles. It seems that Nicola thinks that climate change is at best nothing to worry about.

Government will not have to purchase office supplies that produce low amounts of waste and/or are recyclable. You have to wonder why.

Perhaps most importantly the Government will not have to worry about entering procurement contracts that require the living wage to be paid in contracts for cleaning, catering and security guard services.

Instead there is to be an economic benefit test. Cheap is good.

Let the race to the bottom commence.

If you prefer cheap to environmentally sustainable or that which provides working families with a reasonable standard of living then Willis is your sort of Finance Minister.

The draft rules are out for consultation. Make sure you express your view.

35 comments on “Going for poverty: National’s new procurement rules ”

  1. PsyclingLeft.Always 1
    13 March 2025 at 8:02 am

    Nicola Willis. The answer to many a question on how fucked is NZ ? Who was sucked in by her faux folksy "icecream and dvds" ? And that $25 tax cut must be looking pretty thin by now right?

    Nicky No Boats/Jobs is a version 2.0 Ruthless Ruth…..In time it will get worse.

    Our Left Opposition needs to keep on target. Highlighting how much worse off.….the majority of NZers are and will be under Nicky and NAct1

    And how the Left Opposition have the answers and will implement them. Green Party leading, to my mind.

    Reply
    • Paula Sullivan 1.1
      13 March 2025 at 10:08 am

      Niki No Boats wants the cleaner who cleans her toilet at parliament to earn even less than they do now. [deleted]. This is pure evil.

      Reply
      • weka 1.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 10:17 am

        I’ve deleted one of your sentences. We have a hard no on advocating harm towards people, even by implication. Please read the Policy.

        Reply
      • thinker 1.1.2
        13 March 2025 at 10:58 am

        I wonder how much one of Willis’s turds (suitably encased in resin) or a classy, framed photo of one of her skid mark flourishes would fetch on trade me?

        If I was the toilet cleaner i'd be looking for a side hustle that would generate the income boost I needed.

        Reply
      • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.1.3
        14 March 2025 at 8:21 am

        Hi, yea I def see a version 2.0 Ruthless Ruth, itching beneath the skin, burning with the cold fire of the righteous right.

        What we can do.

        Keep positive, join support groups , write submissions, sign petitions etc.

        Most important to keep aware. Knowledge is your friend.

        Fight back. Stand up !

        Reply
  2. Darien Fenton 2
    13 March 2025 at 8:44 am

    I am apoplectic about the proposed procurement rules changes. Getting cleaners, catering workers and security staff paid the Living Wage in government contracts took years of work by the LWM, unions and in the Labour Party. The fight for contracted out workers began way back in 2000 and eventually part 6a of the ERA was enacted which protects workers when contracts change hands. We are talking here about workers employed by contractors who work at Parliament, in our schools, in our hospitals and in government buildings. It was a huge victory when Labour changed procurement rules and even Parliamentary Services became a Living Wage employer. I see the horrid Seymour is now saying Councils should follow suit with these rules. Many Councils are Living Wage employers – the important thing is it's not just about direct hires; it has to apply to contractors as well.

    Reply
    • Macro 2.1
      13 March 2025 at 9:07 am

      I just can't believe how mean spirited this CoC is. And hearing NW on RNZ this morning just made it more sad. She is completely divorced from the reality of living circumstances for most NZers.

      The test before any person is appointed to M of F should be "What is the economy for?"

      If they answer anything other than "to provide the greatest good to the greatest number over the longest run", they are disqualified.

      Reply
      • Patricia Bremner 2.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 10:46 am

        Yes Macro 100%.
        This is the beginning of the tender spiral down to the lowest bid using wages as a bargaining chip.

        Mean entitled well fed greedy people making rules for the rest. Peter Jackson did this under Key, and here it is again, only this time they have invited rich employers from overseas to join in the greed fest.

        I feel another Hikoi coming on!!

        Reply
      • Georgecom 2.1.2
        13 March 2025 at 1:00 pm

        Yes mean spirited indeed. I was thinking petty but you stated it nicely. And yes it was a struggle Darien, just a petty ideological move from the finance minister now

        Reply
      • thinker 2.1.3
        13 March 2025 at 3:22 pm

        I came on this YouTube clip completely by chance this morning. It's RFK (not the antivaxxer) talking about how economics doesn't measure whats important.

        I think the speech itself could have been improved but the moral of the story is perennial.

        Reply
        • Macro 2.1.3.1
          13 March 2025 at 4:14 pm

          Yeah that is a great speech that he gave. It certainly puts the into perspective the ridiculous concentration of continual improvement of GDP by "economic analysts"

          Reply
    • Res Publica 2.2
      13 March 2025 at 9:35 am

      It’s frustrating to see the years of work put into securing fair wages through procurement rules being so easily undone.

      What’s even more frustrating is how we got here in the first place.

      Policies like Working for Families, despite being introduced with good intentions, have ended up being a massive employer subsidy that permits businesses to suppress wages while shifting the cost onto taxpayers.

      And now, those same employers are ready to take full advantage of these new procurement changes to push wages even lower. We fought hard for these protections, and we’ll have to fight even harder to stop them from being gutted.

      Reply
    • Ad 2.3
      13 March 2025 at 10:19 am

      If they thought cutting lunches was a pr nightmare, wait until they cut wages to thousands of contractor workers.

      Reply
    • Psycho Milt 2.4
      13 March 2025 at 12:42 pm

      Nat/ACT view those victories for workers as profoundly offensive to NACT donors. What was the point of all that hard work enriching employers by destroying unions and making the legal minimum wage the default, if contractors are then made to pay wages people can live on? A capitalist has a noble, righteous duty to pay workers as little as can be gotten away with, so it's no surprise they're making a frontal assault on the procurement rules. All of these politicians seem like they're on a mission to prove Marx right.

      Reply
    • Cricklewood 2.5
      13 March 2025 at 8:07 pm

      I did here it badly defended by the old not all businesses can afford it trope alongside it will give small kiwi businesses a chance.

      I have direct experience in this space, pretty much the biggest on realistically only barrier for a small business is that the contracts are so large that its impossible to find the finance to actually take a contract on.

      I would love to see a left govt direct ministries and councils to unbundle contracts and to tender at least a portion at a size approachable to local companies. I was deeply dissapointed Auckland Council rolled everything into a super contract that now sees basically only wages staying in NZ and all the profits hoovered offshore.

      All councils should be in the first instance be tendering contracts of a size local companies can underrake that way theres a good chance the money actually stays in the community.

      Reply
  3. Res Publica 3
    13 March 2025 at 9:19 am

    The government's proposed changes to procurement rules are yet another hidden subsidy for exploitative employers who refuse to pay decent wages. Instead of ensuring that public contracts support fair pay and good working conditions, this policy rewards companies that thrive on squeezing workers and keeping wages artificially low.

    The long-term costs:a poverty, crime, worsening public health, and an increased welfare bill via WFF, will far exceed any short-term savings.

    Because at the end of the day, paying a living wage upfront is not just the right thing to do; it’s good economic sense.

    But let’s be clear: this isn’t just about procurement. It’s another front in a cynical culture war designed to dismantle what little progress has been made in workers’ rights over the last 40 years.

    The goal here isn’t efficiency or fairness. It’s about eroding the power of the state to regulate capitalism and protect working people. A government that truly valued its citizens would strengthen workers’ rights, not undermine them under the guise of "cutting red tape."

    This is little more than bad policy from a government that governs on memes, not by principles.

    We should be pushing for procurement rules that uplift workers and communities—not ones that entrench exploitation and strip away what few protections remain.

    Reply
    • Incognito 3.1
      13 March 2025 at 9:31 am

      It’s another front in a cynical culture class war designed to dismantle what little progress has been made in workers’ rights over the last 40 years.

      FIFY

      Reply
      • Res Publica 3.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 9:39 am

        A pointed, and helpful correction, Incognito!

        Thank you for reminding me to call this exactly what it is.

        The moment any progress is made for workers, there’s always a well-organized effort to claw it back under the guise of efficiency, fiscal responsibility, or market forces.

        If we’re going full structuralist, culture, identity politics, and all the distractions thrown around are often just the veneer covering deeper class interests. The real game is about maintaining economic dominance, and everything else is just set dressing to keep people divided and distracted from that reality.

        It’s predictable, but that doesn’t make it any less enraging.

        Reply
        • Phillip ure 3.1.1.1
          13 March 2025 at 11:23 am

          The upside of this is that every day this clown-cart grows the audience for strong/transformative policy promises for the next election..

          I hope all the parties on the other end of the political spectrum realise this..

          ..and come up with the required goods…

          ..and that they are all working on these policies…about now ..

          Reply
        • Incognito 3.1.1.2
          13 March 2025 at 5:42 pm

          Good ol’ Prebbles dropped the mask when he spat the dummy leaving the Waitangi Tribunal and ranted about a “Socialist Manifesto”. This whole lot and their appointed shills are waging a class war upon NZ that has been raging for decades.

          Reply
  4. Susie 4
    13 March 2025 at 11:25 am

    So, what I am seeing:

    – Surely, a set of rules for offshore investors, which makes it easier to bid and win against NZ competitors. Yeah, there is a requirement to ‘consider’ a range of important benefits for NZ, but ‘consider’ is light years away from ‘ensure’.

    – two major steps backwards: one, that the five-star green building code is scrapped for govt buildings.
    I just heard https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018978669/government-procurement-changes-backward on this insanity. The building industry is already locked into five-star; the benefits are overwhelming (cost, health, impact, etc) and they would now need to deliberately scale back for perhaps a 2% lower bid.

    – The second is dropping the Living Wage requirement, and I agree with all comments from others on this.

    As regards recycling paper – not the best either (though yeah, well as Monbiot cites, if folks believe recycling works, then they won’t worry about climate change any more, yippee).

    Almost every hour I’m seeing yet another move to reverse a social or environmental protection. Shane Jones blatantly opposing Australia on bottom trawling/seamount protection, (thank you again RNZ on this https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018978675/new-zealand-holds-on-to-bottom-trawling-rights; the list of these catastrophic reversals is just too long to cite, though others are trying to catalogue them. As though this govt is consciously steering Aotearoa to become the country with the worst reputation in the world.

    The logic is terrifying. First of all to invent a financial crisis. Then to introduce austerity measures while actively tearing up everything that could protect, safeguard or promote societal and environmental wellbeing, purportedly for one bottom line only, i.e. to generate private wealth at the expense of ‘natural capital’ or social welfare. And in other countries where is rife (Ethiopia? Nicaragua? DRC?) – who wins?

    Next question – – how to stop this assault, beyond muttering among well-meaning outraged individuals on blog sites? And I don’t think standing outside the Hyatt rattling cans will do it. Opposition must be dignified, compelling and powerful.

    Many years ago, I asked MFAT’s China expert what impact our marches had on the Chinese government (a target at the time) She said, ‘I have asked them, and they say, Oh, but this is your great unwashed, the ragtag of your society! There are no influential people to take account of there.’

    Reply
  5. Mountain Tui 5
    13 March 2025 at 11:31 am

    Angry?

    The only answer is to keep the eye on the ball for 2026 – do you want a second term of this because it will only get worse.

    What can you do? The usual answers are write in, submit, organise a protest, join a party, donate to causes.

    But I personally think that anger needs to be channeled into calm focus for you to help your party win in 2026.

    The alternative is dire.

    Reply
    • weka 5.1
      13 March 2025 at 11:52 am

      some additional things people can do: talk with family, friends, co-workers/colleagues about the situation and options. Spend some time listening to people's concerns rather than jumping in with telling them what to do. Find the common ground if they are swing or soft right voters. Point out L/GP/TPM policy that meets their concerns well.

      Reply
      • Mountain Tui 5.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 12:02 pm

        Very good advice, I've written too long articles about this topic, but I really like this soft approach – thanks weka.

        Reply
        • weka 5.1.1.1
          13 March 2025 at 10:22 pm

          we need both, eh. Are your articles on TS? I'm not keeping up with reading atm, but would love to see them if you have links handy (or keywords).

          Reply
  6. Reality 6
    13 March 2025 at 11:58 am

    Can anyone name a single policy this current lot has introduced that will improve, enhance, enable Luxon's "bottom feeders" to have an ever so slightly better lifestyle?

    I dislike using the "bottom feeders" label but it so encapsulates Luxon's attitude to those who are not rich and sorted.

    Reply
  7. Tony Veitch 7
    13 March 2025 at 1:31 pm

    To copy from The Daily Blog (I can't seem to copy and paste):

    "Not to be a drooling socialist cuck, but if a full day's labour can't purchase three square meals, 24 hours worth of rent and utilities, a fraction of a month's clothing budget, and a reasonable portion to be saved for when we can no longer comfortably work, what the fuck are we doing shit for"?

    Don't know the source other than 'Teaboot'

    Yeah, what the fuck are we doing shit for?

    Reply
  8. Obtrectator 8
    13 March 2025 at 1:46 pm

    Let the race to the bottom commence continue. It’s never really stopped since the early 90s, apart from a few micro-incremental improvements when the half-hearted neolibs (as opposed to the ultra variety) were in office.

    Reply
  9. Susie 9
    13 March 2025 at 6:29 pm

    This govt has till December 2026. If the only envisaged lever of change is the next general election, what will we have lost by that time, irretrievably?

    Mountain Tui wrote this: “This government has 23 more months, give or take, of direct control – and judging by the speed and way it’s done things, it will get it done. If it’s successful to its aims, by the time it’s finished, no govt ‘red tape’ or Māori Treaty, or pesky judiciary, should hold folks such as Peter Thiel back. That’s the idea and culmination of multiple legislative changes, including the RSB, TPB, Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, Crime (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill . . .”.

    I’m interested that the UN Convention against Corruption team reviews NZ govt in May, the first time this decade I think. And yeah, just a silly old UN Convention, WTF, bah humbug, moving along . . . but NZ is far from compliant.

    However beyond this, if it’s our own perception that this government is criminal, that funds for favours is happening, then by rights they would cease to hold office by way of a process more like Watergate than a general election. Tobacco. Oil. Fast Track. A government corruptly influenced by private power. It’s real. It's not legal, not pretty.

    Somehow I feel this can be stopped, because it has to be. However unrealistic that view may seem.

    Reply
    • Mountain Tui 9.1
      13 March 2025 at 9:39 pm

      Another 13-16 months depending on the election Susie (sorry for my typo) but there is no recourse.

      The options are:

      1. One Coalition partner pulls the plug

      2. There is an extremely damaging scandal – that leads people to rip it apart, but what? The Fast-Track corruption didn't raise a whiff of smoke.

      3. Huge collective protests across all of NZ – don't see it happening; too split. Ask the 40% that vote right and they'll probably say better than "Liebour" and the "crazy Greens" etc.

      Reply
    • weka 10.1
      14 March 2025 at 11:48 am

      Tēnā koe, Don. Interesting short read, thanks.

      Welcome to the kōrero at The Standard. We prefer people to say something in comments rather than just drop links, cheers.

      Reply
    • weka 10.2
      14 March 2025 at 11:50 am

      Māori to English translation is here, (testing to see if that's a permanent link that works)

      Reply

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