Category: Labour Party

Education Minister Erica Stanford still can’t confirm when the Government will deliver the $2 billion worth school upgrades she cut earlier this year.

“Labour upgraded 98 percent of schools and delivered more than 2200 new classrooms. Cutting these projects makes no sense and will take educational outcomes backwards,” Labour’s education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.

“Everyone will remember children learning in damp, mouldy classrooms and schools with no space under the last National Government, who were comfortable with kids being taught in gyms and hallways. We don’t want to go back to that.

“Labour was already growing the use off-site manufacturing for classrooms and other government build programmes, driving the uptake of offsite manufacturing by Government agencies by a minimum of 10% year on year.

“We need to keep momentum on school renewals and maintenance. Today’s announcement leaves schools waiting on more than 100 projects with no indication to when or if they will go ahead.

“Just saying “in future budgets” isn’t good enough. Schools deserve certainty and clarity from the Government,” Jan Tinetti said.

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In Budget ’24, the National Government put aside $216 million to pay for a tax cut which mainly benefitted one company: global tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Instead of giving hundreds of millions to big tobacco, National could have spent the money sensibly, on New Zealand.

Around the country, our health, education and housing systems are in dire need of funding. We need more nurses, doctors, teachers, classrooms and hospitals.

Key projects like Dunedin Hospital are paused, cut or cancelled, but the Government has instead rushed to prioritise a reckless tax cut for Philip Morris instead.

This money could have gone towards giving Dunedin the hospital it needs and was promised by National.

It could have gone towards:

• Hospitals in Nelson, Whangārei, Dunedin and other regions
• Boosting staffing in rural communities like Buller
• Helping people access GP visits
• Training more people to boost our health workforce
• Funded free prescriptions for those who need them
• Making sure we have enough nurses in our hospitals
• Keeping after-hours clinics like Kenepuru open
• Cost-of-living support, like the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme and public transport subsidies
• Mental health support initiatives
• Healthy school lunches for students
• Upgrading damp and mouldy classrooms
• Or many other things that would benefit New Zealanders into the future.

Instead, many of these projects and initiatives are facing reckless cuts, which will take us backwards and make life harder for families.

Write to the Government’s key ministers below and let them know how this money could have been better spent in your community, to benefit New Zealanders.

Use our template and feel free to add your local concerns and priorities into your email.

You can also click here to download a tile to share on social media.

Together, we can make sure the Government stops taking us further backwards and starts prioritising the things that matter to New Zealanders.

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Associate health minister Casey Costello has made a fool of the Prime Minister, because the product she’s been fighting to get a tax cut for, and he’s been backing her on, is now illegal – and he doesn’t seem to know it.

Reporting by RNZ today shows that Casey Costello tried and failed to get regulations that would delay the ban on heated tobacco devices sales by two years. Cabinet agreed to defer the regulations by six months, and they came into force yesterday.

This makes the sale of IQOS devices that heat tobacco rather than burn it, illegal. Cabinet gave a hefty but temporary $216 million tax break to the tobacco industry for this type of tobacco, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon yesterday calling the tax break a ‘trial’.

Now that the device can’t be sold in New Zealand, the PM needs to explain how the trial will go ahead. Only people who already own the device can use the tobacco sticks that are inserted into the device.

“Why would Cabinet approve a $216 million cut on excise tax for tobacco that can only be used in a device that is illegal? No new people are going to be helped to quit smoking by this, and there can’t be a trial now,” said Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall.

“Did the Prime Minister know that by turning down the delay in the regulations coming into force, the sale of IQOS devices would be banned? The answer must be no because that makes the trial he referred to multiple times yesterday in the media impossible.

“If Casey Costello understood the implications of the regulations coming into force earlier but didn’t tell the Prime Minister then she has misled him and cabinet. If she didn’t understand, then she lacks a basic grasp of her own portfolio.

“Even though the IQOS device is now banned, $216 million still sits on the Government’s books as a contingency for the excise tax break. That money could be spent on the myriad of demands on our health system, such as building Dunedin hospital and improving patient care.

“Putting aside $216 million in the Budget for a device that could still be as harmful to New Zealanders as cigarettes shows the Government’s got its priorities all wrong and is taking New Zealanders backwards,” said Ayesha Verrall.

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Time has run out for Nicola Willis who has failed to keep her promise to deliver a solution to replace the Interislander ferries by today.

“Nicola Willis promised New Zealanders she would have a plan by the end of the quarter. Instead as the deadline to her promise loomed – she admitted last week it’s likely to be much later,” Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said.

“The Government’s bungled ferry deal is a complete failure. The consequences of these decisions will mean Kiwis pay more, wait years longer for replacement boats and face increased freight costs.

“Nicola Willis botched this deal from the moment she was in the captain’s chair. It was just the beginning of the poor choices this Government is becoming famous for.

“If the replacement ferries are not rail-enabled, Nicola Willis, Paul Goldsmith and Simeon Brown will also go down in history as the Ministers who cut the main trunk line in two.

“Maybe this is the hold up? As it seems the chaotic Cabinet cannot agree on a pathway forward when it comes to the possibility of no rail capability across the Cook Strait.

“Cancelling the order for two rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries has already cost KiwiRail almost half a billion dollars. However, costs are estimated to keep rising as the price for exiting the contracts with South Korean shipbuilders Hyundai is still under negotiation.

“Nicola Willis should be on the phone pleading with the ship builders to reinstate the contract. As more and more time goes on, it’s clear the Government is struggling to find that ‘Toyota Corolla’ ferry it desperately wanted without paying Ferrari prices,” Tangi Utikere said.

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Labour supports Buller and Dunedin communities who are marching today and calling on the Government to act urgently to fix the health crisis.

“Rural communities like those in Buller are bearing the brunt of Government underfunding, and the situation is now a crisis,” said Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall.

“They have had to deal with numerous closures to the emergency department at Buller Hospital, and now Te Whatu Ora and West Coast Health plan to close after hours GP services and move them to telehealth services.

“This will put pressure on emergency departments and ambulance services.

“Earlier this month, I received a petition from Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA) who are asking the Government to urgently address the health crisis in their community.

“Health care workers and residents are both worried about staff shortages, and the increasing demand on the region’s hospitals.

“We support Buller Health Action Group and PVA in their declaration that calls for the Government to take urgent action on the health crisis Buller communities are facing.

“The Government is stalling the build of a new Dunedin hospital, skimping on new facilities at Nelson Hospital and making cuts to budgets that are affecting the frontline,” says Labour associate health spokesperson Tracey McLellan.

“Our regions shouldn’t have to march in the streets to get adequate health care, especially when the Government has chosen to give tax breaks to landlords and the tobacco industry over funding for hospitals.

“The health crisis is evidence of yet another broken promise from this Government, and how it is taking New Zealand backwards,” said Ayesha Verrall.

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News that the Smithfield meatworks could close is devastating for the hundreds of people who work there, Timaru and the wider region.

“This potential closure could leave up to 600 people out of work. Sometimes several members of the same family work in this plant – and this will be distressing news for all of them,” Labour MP based in Rangitata Jo Luxton said.

“These workers contribute to the local economy and businesses, and many have family nearby. Closure would mean some of them have to make the difficult decision to take redundancy or leave the area,” Jo Luxton said.

This is the latest major employer looking to close in New Zealand. Hundreds of jobs have already gone from manufacturing in the North Island in the last month.

“We are seeing rising unemployment as the government ignores the plight of workers,” Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich said.

“Even through the global economic shock of the pandemic, Labour supported workers and businesses to keep people in jobs. Now, unemployment rises while the government sits on its hands.

“The Government has chosen to lay off 6000 public servants, has not done anything to help hundreds of workers in the manufacturing sector, and has cancelled Jobs for Nature and reduced funding for Apprenticeship Boost – programmes that help create jobs in our regions.

“The Government needs to stand up for workers and see the value in keeping people in jobs,” Camilla Belich said.

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The Government is taking tertiary education down a worrying path with new reporting finding that fourteen of the country’s sixteen polytechnics couldn’t survive on their own,” Labour’s tertiary education spokesperson Dr Deborah Russell says.

“Penny Simmonds has been forced to acknowledged that nationally only two polytechs are likely to be able to stand alone – meaning she will be forced to sacrifice fourteen polytechs to prop up her favourite institution that she worked for.

“The Minister’s own officials advised her that retaining Te Pūkenga is the best educational approach and the most cost-effective thing to do. Now her wrong decisions are setting up polytechs to fail.

“The Minister is choosing to pursue her own pre-determined plans without listening to expert advice. In regional areas, students will be pushed into blended and online learning, changing the hands-on nature of vocational and trades training. We need to grow our constructions and trades workforce, not put extra barriers in the way of students.

“The Government has already said that it will cut the workforce develop councils which matched skill needed in our regions with training. It’s sad that politics is getting in the way of making the right decision.

“These decisions will leave access to tertiary education in rural and regional New Zealand behind. Penny Simmonds needs to put aside her personal ideals and realise that retaining Te Pūkenga is the best way forward,” Dr Deborah Russell said.

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The non-announcement in Dunedin today had Ministers leaving broken promises and a likely severely diluted hospital build in their wake.

“The Government’s attempt to placate the people of Dunedin has fallen short. Instead of flying down to announce they’d build the planned hospital, they’ve spent a bunch of money on another review that won’t mean any more hospital beds,” Tracey McLellan said.

“Under National, the Dunedin Hospital plans are a sterling disappointment. The project, which Labour began and funded, has been downgraded despite silver-tongued promises National made to get into Government.

“Labour’s fully costed project had the budget allocated to pay for it, was bigger, and had additional capacity for mental health and MRI facilities. National are potentially content with simply giving the old building a makeover.

“While Health Minister Shane Reti mucks around value managing and adding a new review to a project that has already undergone several, the costs go up, consultants stand around waiting, and the credibility of National to deliver the hospital goes down.

“The ministers’ attempts to pit the region against the rest of the country when it is the Government’s own fault health is not funded adequately was in poor taste today.

“Our regions shouldn’t have to compete with each other for decent health services. The choice for the government was measly tax cuts and a $2.9 billion tax break for landlords over health.

“There are 20 projects on a national red list which are without adequate funding according to media reports today. The Dunedin region is the first, but communities, cities and towns nationwide will go without healthcare facilities because of National,” Tracey McLellan said.

The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed today with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Labour Government began exploratory trade talks on this agreement in September last year and represented a deepening of bilateral relations between our two countries.

“The UAE is a significant trading partner for New Zealand, with exports approaching $1 billion per annum,” said Labour trade spokesperson Damien O’Connor.

“The UAE is also a hub for New Zealand Inc operations into the region and a key component of New Zealand’s air connectivity to the Middle East and beyond.

“An agreement with the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council was the next step following the UK and EU free trade agreements Labour concluded in government, and conclusion by the National Government is another great step forward in trade opportunities for our exporters.”

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