Oh darn: Kaye ticks off MP over knitting jab
Memo doesn’t sit well with employees losing jobs
National Party MP Paul Goldsmith has been reprimanded by deputy leader Nikki Kaye for saying the Prime Minister should “stick to her knitting” — but he does not think Jacinda Ardern would be bothered.
“She’s pretty tough,” Goldsmith said.
The MP made the comment after Ardern said she was “angry” about The Warehouse’s move to lay off more than 1000 staff.
“I don’t think it’s helpful for the Prime Minister to be criticising struggling businesses, she should stick to her knitting,” Goldsmith said.
The comment prompted a backlash on social media and it is understood Goldsmith was reprimanded by Kaye for using the phrase.
Goldsmith has since conceded it was not the best choice of words because younger people, including his own children, did not understand the metaphor.
He told RNZ it was a phrase he used often and he meant no disrespect to the Prime Minister by it.
Asked if he was apologising, he said: “I can do. She’s pretty tough. I’m sure she’s not in the least bit worried about it . . . we’re in a robust political environment.”
He said he would just as readily have directed it at Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
Goldsmith said: “I use the phrase all the time. The point of it is to say: ‘Stick to your task rather than meddling in somebody else’s’.”
The National MP maintained his core argument was valid.
“It is not for politicians to determine what business decisions should be made in terms of a private company trying to stay afloat at a difficult time. The Prime Minister’s focus should be on clearly articulating a credible growth plan to get us back on track as a country. What we’re seeing at the moment is a plan that consists of debt-fuelled government spending on a colossal scale and waiting for a vaccine. We need to do better than that.”
Goldsmith said the wage subsidy and its extension made sense, but the country needed to focus on private investment, business confidence, and bringing back international students.
The Warehouse Group is repaying wage cuts because their sales during Covid-19 restrictions were “higher than expected”.
Last week, the country’s biggest retailer told staff they were its priority and it was in a position to repay salary reductions but on Monday announced it would axe more than 1000 jobs.
In an internal message, sent on June 3, chief executive Nick Grayston said “we want to give you back the reduction you took”.
Since opening at alert level 2, immediate sales “have been higher than expected and we were able to open earlier”, Grayston said.
“I want to stress though that the last few good weeks of sales do not come close to making up for the losses our business has realised since lockdown under alert level 4.”
At the end of April, staff earning more than $60,000 were asked to take a 10 per cent salary reduction while those earning more than $100,000 were asked to take a 20 per cent cut.
Across its brands, The
Warehouse Group took $67.7 million from the wage subsidy scheme.
Grayston told staff Treasury’s predictions the economy would shrink by 4.6 per cent by June and unemployment could peak at 9.8 per cent meant he didn’t think the “current sales increase will last”.
Grayston said the world had changed “permanently” and
“whilst we’re certainly not out of the woods in the longer term, please know that our people have been our priority through this time”.
I’d like to see the same attitude applied by some of our larger organisations in New Zealand — that’s how I feel.
Jacinda Ardern
On Monday The Warehouse Group announced it would be closing six more stores and cutting jobs at its headquarters, meaning more than 1000 jobs would be axed.
Staff are understood to be fuming, with one set to lose his job saying the message about repaying salary cuts was posted the day after affected stores were told they’d be closing. He called the move “heartless”.
The Warehouse Group was approached for comment but a spokeswoman said she wasn’t sure what they could add because Grayson was interviewed by the Herald on Monday about the job cuts.
The company said in a statement to the NZX the effects of Covid-19 made it “even more clear” it needed to move to an Agile operating model.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was “angry” with The Warehouse Group for announcing the mass job losses. Ardern told RNZ The Warehouse had promoted itself as being “in the community and for the community”.
“I’m angry. If I’m speaking frankly.”
Ardern said she’d been getting hundreds of letters from small-business owners trying to keep their staff and stay afloat by running down whatever reserves they had.
“The Government of course, and taxpayers, are taking a huge hit because we are prioritising keeping as many businesses and individuals employed and up and running as we can. I’d like to see the same attitude applied by some of our larger organisations in New Zealand — that’s how I feel.”