Good coverage for Andrew Little’s speech on Sunday. Stuff:
Labour leader Andrew Little: Kiwi families’ pay packets $50 a week worse off under National
A squeeze on “middle New Zealand” means the average Kiwi family has missed out on more than $13,000 in wages since the National government came to power, Labour leader Andrew Little says.
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Little said Labour research showed just 37 per cent of economic growth had gone into the pay packets of working families since National came to power in 2008 – down from over 50 per cent under the previous Labour government.That meant the average family had lost out on more than $13,000 under the Government, and would miss out on an average of $50 a week this year.
“That is why things are getting so out of kilter, and why wages and salaries have got no chance of keeping up with house price inflation and a whole lot of other areas.”
Economic growth not reaching Kiwi families – Labour
Kiwi families are missing out on $50 a week while a bigger chunk of the economy is heading to the rich, according to Labour.
At his pre-Budget speech in Wellington today, Labour leader Andrew Little said since the current Government came into power, just 37 percent of economic growth is heading into pay packets. “Under the last Labour government that figure was over 50 percent,” he said.
In real figures, that works out to $50 a week out of the average kiwi family income. “Fifty bucks a week… That’s the real cost to Kiwi families of an economy that’s tilted in favour of those at the top.
“This is a result of a Government that is increasingly out of touch and focused on the few at the top.”
RNZ:
Little targets National over growing inequality
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In his pre-budget speech in Wellington this afternoon, Labour’s leader Andrew Little said that under the National-led government the economy had been tilted in favour of those at the top.Mr Little argued that only 37 percent of economic growth was now going to working families – under Labour he said it was 50 percent.
“If working New Zealanders’ share of the economy hadn’t shrunk under National, the average family would now be $50 a week better off.
Andrew Little’s pre-Budget message: Middle New Zealand is missing out
With the Government announcing the Budget this week, Mr Little started things off by questioning whether “middle New Zealand” would benefit.
“This week, when you see the Budget, look past the gimmicks, look past the spin,” he said. “Ask yourself, ‘Is this a budget for middle New Zealand?'”
However, the challenge was backed by little information – the only announcement released was Labour-commissioned research which claims households are $50 worse off a week than they were in 2008. “We have growth in this country and the reality is more and more of it is going to fewer people and it’s not being reflected in pay rises for most people,” Mr Little said.
The Herald’s Claire Tervett is in a minority, spinning (as usual) for the Nats:
Mixed messages in Little’s pre-Budget speech
The centrepiece was a very convoluted piece of research about the proportion of economic growth returned to workers. Labour had concluded New Zealanders were getting $50 less a week than they would have been.
None of the other writers seem to have trouble understanding the analysis.
It was effectively meaningless beyond showing what clever clogs they were to have worked out such a thing. It also opened Little to questioning on how Labour would get that back into the pockets of those workers.
$50 dollars a week, $13,000 in wages since National came to power – that’s probably pretty meaningful to most people. (Update: Claire seems to have managed three deep breaths since that rant and managed something slightly less ridiculous this morning.)
So, apart from the usual suspects, a great reception for Little’s speech, and a take-home message that resonates well. In New Zealand, as in the world, growth is captured by the rich while the rest of us get shafted.
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