In February I spoke in Parliament about my concerns regarding the Government’s proposed changes to employment law.
Auckland has been performing well in recent times and we all want that to continue. The employment growth for Auckland ranges from 3.4% to 9.5% so it’s important we don’t do anything to upset this. The new Government has launched the first wave of their employment law reforms that could do just that. The reforms as proposed will increase risks and costs for small and medium sized businesses and that can only hurt jobs and slow our city down.
The changes proposed include the end of the starting out wage, the removal of 90 day trials for businesses with more than 20 staff (including casual and part timers), big leaps in the minimum wage, reduced employment flexibility, and 1970s style, standardised wage bargaining. These changes taken together will mean fewer jobs for Kiwi workers, increases in the cost of living and fewer competitive businesses. It is important to continue to increase the minimum wage as we did consistently when we were in government. However, the pace of that change matters as it can have a huge impact on businesses if you do it too fast. Many small businesses simply have limited choices in that if costs go up, they have to reduce their staffing bill or employ fewer people.
Unfortunately, we are already seeing businesses across the country lose confidence as a result of the policies of the new Government. These reforms are one of the big reasons for that decline. New Zealand has an enviable track record over the last few years for lifting employment and growing wages. For the last two years, an average of over 10,000 jobs have been created every month. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since the GFC in 2008, and the proportion of people in work is the third highest in the developed world. Given that track record, we believe the Government at the very least needs to explain the reasons behind these reforms. We need to be honest about what the Government’s intentions are. National backs workers and businesses to have modern grown-up conversations about employment policies like pay, leave and allowances. Forcing extra costs on small and medium sized businesses is not ‘working with them’. And you don’t improve things for New Zealand workers by increasing the cost of goods made in New Zealand.
National has launched a campaign called ‘Protect NZ Jobs’ to help small and medium sized businesses better understand and fight the Government’s proposed employment reforms. Go to our website www.protectnzjobs.co.nz to find out more information about these reforms and our campaign. Auckland Central is growing well and there is a strong future ahead for our families, our young people and our most vulnerable people. Let’s not do anything to upset that growth.
Celebrating Auckland with Pride
It was great to walk down Ponsonby Road again for the annual Pride Parade. I am proud to be one of a small group of people that helped bring a parade for the LGBTIQ community back to Auckland. Congratulations to all those people who organised and supported the parade this year. I also want to acknowledge the many groups, community organisations, businesses and individuals who walked in the parade. There have been numerous gains made in the last decade for the LGBTIQ community including Member of Parliament Louisa Wall’s marriage equality legislation passing, the formal apology by Parliament to men convicted under old laws that criminalised homosexuality, and more funding invested to support LGBTIQ youth. However, we still have a lot more to do, particularly to prevent the bullying of LGBTIQ youth. (NIKKI KAYE)
If you have any local or national issues or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my office on 09 378 2088 or send me an email on
mp.aucklandcentral@parliament.govt.nz
Authorised by Hon Nikki Kaye, MP for Auckland Central, 48C College Hill, Freemans Bay.