CTU report card on Govt’s first 100 days
Richard Wagstaff
In last year’s election the Council of Trade Unions campaigned to warn everyday New Zealanders that Christopher Luxon was out of touch with their lived realities.
As a first term MP, the then Leader of the Opposition was an unknown quantity for the public and his leadership skills were untested.
We wanted to ensure that people knew what the risks were of electing him as prime minister, especially given he was putting forward policies that would increase wealth and income inequality, such as through abolishing Fair Pay Agreements, cutting incomes for beneficiaries, and giving tax breaks to landlords.
The rollout of his 100 day plan represents an all-out assault on the pay, rights and conditions of working people, proving that highlighting those risks was warranted.
The new administration has used parliamentary urgency to ram through a host of controversial policies including repealing Fair Pay Agreements, extending 90-day trials to big business and disestablishing Te Pūkenga.
They were elected on a platform of addressing the cost-of-living crisis, and yet their recent decision on the minimum wage means that it won’t keep up with rising costs. Put alongside policies such as bringing back prescription fees and increasing vehicle registration fees, people will now have less money their pockets.
Despite also campaigning on investing in key infrastructure, they have put a stop to important projects such as Three Waters and the upgrade of the Cook Strait ferries, without any alternative plans to address the issues.
This is classic short-term thinking, and the very opposite of responsible economic management which National promised to deliver.
Not only has the Prime Minister advanced a policy agenda that undermines the interests of working people, but he is using rhetoric that is painting a negative, deficit-based vision for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.
He seems more focused on dividing rather than uniting the country.
He used his recent state of the nation speech to talk about how “fragile” our country is, painting a bleak picture of “catastrophic” welfare dependency and “soaring” violent crime.
Following a worn-out playbook, he is seeking to manufacture crises that distract from his Government’s lack of a long-term vision to provide security and wellbeing for New Zealanders.
We need leadership that rises to meet the long-term challenges that we face, whether it be climate change, inequality or the changing nature of work.
But rather than stepping up and showing that leadership, the Prime Minister’s Government is sowing doubt and undermining the constitutional partnership that lies at the foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
His Cabinet has used the 100 day plan to scrap a range of positive initiatives aimed at lifting Māori outcomes, including the Māori Health Authority and world leading smokefree policies. The generosity of spirit and conviction that Māori constantly show to Pākehā as Treaty partners is something we shouldn’t take for granted.
Earlier this year I went to the huge hui at Turangawaewae and Waitangi to listen to what Māori had to tell us.
The strength of unity in opposition to this Government was clear, but so was the continued generosity and hope for a country that truly embodies co-operation and mutual understanding. Despite the best attempts of this Government, the Treaty partnership is strong, resilient and runs deep in the fabric of our nation.
I am confident that while the scale of the challenges is considerable, the opportunities are even greater.
This moment calls for unity and a positive vision for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand, but if his first 100 days in office are anything to go by, the Prime Minister seems unwilling or incapable of providing it.