Political Wrap Up: 11,000 construction jobs gone, Nurses Strike & Unemployment to reach Pandemic Levels
Headlines
Good morning, here’s a quick wrap up of 10 developments:
1. HEALTH: AUSTERITY BUDGET
Front-line hospital workers told jobs could soon be gone (RNZ / Lauren Crimp)
The government is set to fire non-clinical front line roles in Auckland as part of its cost saving measures. This includes teams who support clinical logistics, supply replenishment and cleaning.
Who will it fall on then?
We’ve already seen doctors around the country asked to make beds and clean sinks.
Tasks like removing contaminated linen, replenishing supplies and helping families find their loved ones may seem simple, but they were vital for infection control, patient comfort, and overall hospital efficiency, affected staff have said.
However, Health NZ - under a directive to cut an “aspirational” $2b -
have said these roles are no longer necessary since there isn’t a nursing shortage anymore.
2. HEALTH: INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Nurses strike today: The strike is a total withdrawal of labour from public hospitals for eight hours, between 11am and 7pm, but life preserving services will be in place.
More strikes are planned as the government’s pay offer of 0.5% and 1% was rejected, along with Health NZ attempting to abandon capacity demand management (CCDM).
This comes as half of local nursing graduates miss out on job offers from Te Whatu Ora, and the government has been “ghosting” nursing jobs for months, while service delivery deteriorates.
“The [offer] means nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora will be offered a wage increase well below the rate of inflation - and effectively a pay cut. Nurses should not have to prop up the health system by taking cuts in pay.
"This could lead to a further exodus of New Zealand nurses to Australia. Nurses need a pay rise that reflects at least the cost of living and recognises their skills and knowledge. With Australia looking like an attractive option, we need pay and conditions that value them and help keep them in New Zealand,"
3. MPI & EXPORTS
At least 80,000 chickens will now be culled as the first case of pathogenic bird flu lands in Aotearoa (RNZ / Christine Rush)
All poultry exports are on hold until the country is free of the highly pathogenic bird flu. MPI is investigating six farms but Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard expresses confidence it will be contained.
He said local poultry and eggs are still considered safe to eat but needs to be thoroughly cooked.
And while humans overseas have contracted this strain before (H7N6), Hoggard disputes that it is evidence based.
Earlier in the year, the government cut ~9% of the MPI workforce. Back then, PSA National Secretary Duane Leo said MPI is the “first line of defence for our whole economy” pointing to its work in natural disasters as well as dealing with outbreaks such as Mycoplasma bovis.
Leo:
“The cost-cutting will hit vital support for the primary sector and everyone else whose livelihoods depend on it.
Our export economy relies on world-class biosecurity and disease control, and a robust food safety regime that is beyond question.
Worryingly biosecurity is the biggest area to be cut, with 131 roles to go. Another 80 roles are going from the Agriculture Investment Services, which engages with primary industry stakeholders and farming communities on the ground.”
The government also cut customs staff as part of budget cuts, including frontline roles.
4. CLIMATE: METHANE TARGETS
The government has used, and arguably over-played, the role of “independent experts and panels” to achieve its goals since forming government.
This includes claiming it uses “independent” experts on Kiwirail Interislander, Kainga Ora, and fast-track.
In April, Simon Watts announced an “independent” environment panel would review methane targets (a gas that contributes to greenhouse emissions).
NZ has pledged to lower biogenic methane emissions from 2017 levels by 10 percent by 2030 and by 24 to 47 percent by 2050.
At the time, the government’s own environmental watchdog warned it was wasting time and money - there was “comprehensive” research on the topic - confirmed twice over. As the science of methane is already settled, said the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment chief economist, the only remaining questions are political,
The Climate Commission, the government’s independent climate advisors, made the case our current targets are not strong enough.
Today, Lawyers for Climate Action point to the government appearing to replacing politics with science, and giving it’s “independent” panel a narrow scope that excludes looking at whether “no added warming” is beneficial or not.
Simon Watts is also on track to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme, despite evidence showing agriculture makes up 50% of all emissions.
5. DEFENCE
NZDF battles $360m deficit after 'austerity' measures fail to make dent (RNZ / Phil Pennington)
The Public Service Association (PSA) said NZDF had told staff that it "is looking for savings of $360m next financial year in operational costs, with $50m to be met from workforce savings".
This endangered national security, the union said.
A $360m operating deficit is more than double its $158m in the past financial year.
Defence also faces an estimated $260m of cost over-runs on a handful of its biggest capital projects, including repairs of decrepit housing.
This comes after months of reports of Defence being kicked to the curb: 'We're already operating on the smell of an oily rag', aging homes, mouldy military homes without funding etc.
Labour’s Chris Hipkins said he would not commit to joining AUKUS over the weekend, earning him criticism from Newstalk ZB, while Chris Luxon has signaled NZ is still very much open to it.
6. ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY: FAST-TRACK
All of Govt’s 2024 coal earnings spent treating damages at a single mine (Newsroom / Fox Meyer)
New Treasury figures show last year the Government spent more than $3 million treating damage caused by coal mining at a single site on the West Coast – more than it collected in royalties for all coal mining nationwide the same year.
The Stockton mine is the country’s largest open-cast coal operation, and a fast-track listing would see its licence continue for another 25 years. Remediation efforts for historical mining are still underway.
7. ECONOMY: UNEMPLOYMENT
The unemployment news is continuing to deteriorate with Alice Peacock / Newsroom reporting it will soar to pandemic levels “and top those across the Asia-Pacific region in 2025.”
We lost 11,000 construction jobs over the last year. No surprise at all given the government’s handling of Kainga Ora and other construction projects around the country. KO represents the largest residential building sector activity in NZ.
Newsroom’s Andrew Patterson observe that business confidence is tied to the OCR, and steadily improving, but “the irony.. is that the very fact the Reserve Bank is having to cut rates so aggressively to stimulate the economy is indicative of the economic jam NZ is currently experiencing.”
8. ECONOMY: JOBSEEKERS
Number of people on Jobseeker benefit shoots up (1News / Maiki Sherman)
Earlier this year the Government set a target to reduce jobseeker numbers by 50,000 fewer people by 2030, to 140,000 overall.
But despite making it harder, including putting people who miss a phone call on to a “red traffic” sanction list, more than 200,000 now sit on the list - 8000 more in just 3 months.
9: ECONOMY: DEBT
Big jump in loan defaults as debt-fuelled holiday season begins (The Post / Rob Stock)
Some interesting statistics:
In October, 3960 people in KiwiSaver withdrew savings due to financial hardship, up from 2800 in October 2023, data from Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake shows.
Both overall consumer arrears and mortgage arrears are up year-on-year, up 3.1% and 10% respectively
The number of people behind on their payments rose slightly to 461,000 in October, up 3000 month-on-month, equating to 12.14% of the active credit population.
Company liquidations across the country are up 27% year-on-year and are on the rise across most regions
Demand for buy now, pay later loans has started to rise as the holiday season arrives
A reminder: This government rolled back pay day lender restrictions in January.
10: OPINION PIECE - Covid and Future Preparedness
Historical revisionism on Covid threatens NZ’s pandemic preparedness - Marc Daalder notes:
The Royal Commission report on NZ’s Covid response fundamentally validates the strategic and tactical choices made during the acute phase of the pandemic, if not always their implementation
There are many important lessons to be learned from the Covid-19 response to better deal with the next pandemic, but we are unlikely to learn them if our memories of the pandemic are distorted by a refusal to acknowledge what we did well.
I love this gem from Hoggard, he disputes that it is evidence based! I think he meant to say he disputes this BECAUSE it is evidence based - they don’t ‘do’ evidence, only reckons and paybacks to the donors
Bloody beaut, and succinct. Unfortunately some of my red necks won't read it as they won't face reality. Sooner pull the blankets up over their head.
Been relayed to me, that the foreskin from red neck radio was having a rant about graduate nurses not being hired, seems his daughter is about to graduate. Feel sorry for her, but wryly joyful that the chickens are roosting.