Red faces over use of ‘slaves’

A group of 85 Labour Party interns flew to New Zealand from around the world expecting lectures from Helen Clark and real-world campaign experience.

They arrived to a cramped dormitory, no pay, no lectures, and a broken shower.

Labour’s head office has had to take over the Auckland-run scheme and in some cases help pay for the students to go home.

The interns have been working phone banks and living in a cramped dormitory at an Auckland marae, a report on the Politik website claims.

The scheme was run by former Labour Auckland head Matt McCarten, who left his job in midMay.

He took the scheme with him, renaming it ‘‘Campaign for Change’’. While not run out of the Labour Party Auckland office, it was still supported by them.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said there were questions to be asked over whether this was a breach of visa conditions.

‘‘Even if they were on valid visas there are also very important questions to be asked about whether this was a breach of employment law,’’ Woodhouse said.

Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox said it was ‘‘slave labour’’.

‘‘They came from the States thinking they were getting something when they were doing something else; that is slave labour, not free labour.

‘‘There is a stench in the air, and it’s the stench of hypocrisy,’’ Fox said.

A brochure promised: ‘‘The campaign fellowship programme gives the fellows a glance into what a career in politics would be like, as well as offering the fellows special access to senior MPs and important decision makers in the party.

‘‘Although we are unable to compensate our fellows financially, the campaign fellowship will stand out on your CV and both organisers are happy to serve as a reference upon successful completion of the fellowship.

‘‘Fellows will be instructed in the fundamentals of a successful campaign – from knocking on doors to recruiting volunteers to use the party’s campaign software – but will progress quickly and ultimately may build and train their own teams and lead campaign activity across Auckland.’’

The students arrived several weeks ago and problems were apparent immediately, with some of them returning home on the first day.

The problems mostly concerned their accommodation at Awataha Marae in Northcote.

According to the Politik report, the interns complained about cramped dormitory space, a broken shower, broken cupboard doors, and unfinished construction work.

Their campaign work was mostly phone banking, rather than door-to-door work.

General secretary of the Labour Party Andrew Kirton said: A few days ago I was alerted to some issues with Matt McCarten’s programme. We have stepped in and taken the programme over and we are sorting it out.’’

Party leader Andrew Little said it was ‘‘embarrassing’’.

‘‘The party became aware earlier this week of just how things were, and they have stepped in to take over ... to basically clean it all up.

‘‘I can’t deny it – it is embarrassing, it is the wrong thing to do. I have said to the party the only thing that matters is the welfare of those people.

‘‘So we sort that out and we look after people, and that is what the party is in the process of doing,’’ Little said.

McCarten admitted the programme was ‘‘oversubscribed’’.

‘‘The programme was extremely popular and quickly became oversubscribed. The scale of the programme is now greater than I can manage, and I am aware of issues that this has caused.

’’My intention from the start has been to give young people a positive experience in the New Zealand political system and I regret that the programme has not lived up to this promise for all volunteers.’’

Kirton said he understood the students were on work visas but he was working to confirm this.

He said a six-week unpaid internship was consistent with other political fellowship programmes around the world.