Category: Media releases

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MEDIA RELEASE: Puberty Blockers Should Be Halted In NZ

Source: Family First

MEDIA RELEASE: 13 March 2024

Puberty Blockers Should Be Halted In NZ Also

Family First NZ is again calling on the government to halt gender affirmative treatment of minors and for a full inquiry into the long term effects and potential harms of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

The call comes in response to two significant events over the past days. NHS England has just confirmed that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics. According to media reports, the decision comes after an independent review of services for children under 18 and a sharp rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which is closing at the end of March. Puberty blockers will now only be available to children as part of clinical research trials.

The decision may have come in response to the other significant event – the release of internal files from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) which suggest that the practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor medical. Thousands of doctors worldwide rely on WPATH including our own Health NZ Te Whatu Ora – and it’s also pushed by the activist group PATHA in New Zealand.

The “WPATH FILES” include emails and messages from an internal discussion forum by doctors, as well as statements from a video call of WPATH members which was leaked.

The files provide clear evidence that doctors and therapists are aware they are offering minors life-changing treatments they cannot fully understand. WPATH members know that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will cause infertility and other complications, including cancer and pelvic floor dysfunction. Yet they consider life-altering medical interventions for young patients, including vaginoplasty for a 14-year-old and hormones for a developmentally delayed 13-year-old.

A growing number of medical and psychiatric professionals say the promotion of pseudoscientific surgical and hormonal experiments is a global medical scandal that compares to major incidents of medical malpractice in history, such as lobotomies and ovariotomies.

Guidelines for Gender Affirming Healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand comes out of a group called PATHA. In their Guidelines document, they specifically say “WPATH is the international body responsible for producing standards of care…  This guideline is not intended to replace the WPATH SOC but to present additional guidance for the provision of gender affirming healthcare in Aotearoa, New Zealand… WPATH SOC v7 guidelines provide internationally recognised standards and criteria for accessing gender affirming hormone treatment.”

Members of the Executive Committee and the Policy and Advocacy Committee of PATHA are members of WPATH and one of them is also a co-author of the latest revision of the WPATH Standards of Care.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora says on their website – “For referral acceptance to be considered patients need to: meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People, published by The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) version seven.”

The most recent guidance from WPATH (version 8) suggested that if parents do not affirm their child’s newly chosen identity, the state may be enabled to intervene in order to assist with the child’s transition.

This new evidence from the WPATH files confirms what many parents and community leaders have been expressing concern about, and is a damning indictment on New Zealand’s approach to ‘transing’ our young people.

The UK government said it welcomed the “landmark decision” of the NHS banning puberty blockers, adding it would help ensure care is based on evidence and is in the “best interests of the child”.

Family First will be writing to the Minister of Health to call for the immediate halt of the chemicalising of confused young people (puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, binding, tucking) in the name of gender ideology. These reviews are already happening in a number of other countries.

WPATH was considered the leading global authority on gender medicine – but it’s now been rightly exposed as the wild west of western medicine.

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Workers should worry about new threat to workplace protections in Minister’s speech

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Minister Brooke van Velden’s speech to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last night is another alarming sign of the Government’s low regard for workers’ basic rights.

“The Minister appeared to endorse proposals that would strip workers of essential basic workplace protections,” said Acting CTU President Rachel Mackintosh.

“The union movement wishes to speak urgently with the Minister about these remarks which follows the indecent haste to scrap Fair Pay Agreements and reinstate 90-day trials.

 “It is particularly concerning to hear that the Minister wants to review health and safety law. New Zealand has an appalling health and safety record, with approximately 17 workers killed as a consequence of their work every week. Every 15 minutes a worker suffers an injury that requires more than a week away from work. The lessons from Pike River tell us that we need stronger health and safety law, not lighter touch regulation. Nobody gains from that.

 “The Minister also highlighted contractors as an area where ‘certainty’ was needed. Right now, workers can go to court to show that they are employees – which is what Uber workers did. The Minister and the National/ACT coalition agreement appears to want to take away that right. This would strip essential protections such as leave, sickness, ACC, and more from thousands of the most vulnerable workers.

 “We’re also appalled to hear the Minister complaining about the advances that have been made for workers in recent years. Increasing the minimum wage occurred while we had record-low unemployment. Sick leave entitlement increased to match Australia. Paid Parental Leave increased to 26 weeks. These are all good things for workers, and their families. They should be celebrated, not used as reasons for complaint.

 “The Minister set out a vision for the economy built on flexibility – the same language was used in the early 1990s by Jim Bolger and Ruth Richardson to strip workers of so many protections.

“If she has her way, this flexibility will come from working people losing their rights, their health, and their terms and conditions of employment. This isn’t a vision for a better economy, it’s a prescription for the kind of low wage, low productivity economy we should be leaving behind. The Minister has recently refused to engage with workers representatives, we would urge her to reconsider.” “We will be outlining our concerns to the Minister, and requesting a discussion on her policy agenda  and how it will impact working people.”

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MEDIA RELEASE: WPATH’s Experiment on Children Must Be Halted

Source: Family First

Family First NZ is calling on the government to halt gender affirmative treatment of minors and for a full inquiry into the long term effects and potential harms of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

The call comes in response to the release of internal files from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) which suggest that the practice of transgender medicine is neither scientific nor medical. Thousands of doctors worldwide rely on WPATH including our own Health NZ Te Whatu Ora – and it’s also pushed by the activist group PATHA in New Zealand.

The “WPATH FILES” include emails and messages from an internal discussion forum by doctors, as well as statements from a video call of WPATH members which was leaked.

As stated by the group who were leaked the WPATH Files, members demonstrate a lack of consideration for long-term patient outcomes despite being aware of the debilitating and potentially fatal side effects of cross-sex hormones and other treatments. Messages in the files show that patients with severe mental health issues, such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, and other vulnerabilities such as homelessness, are being allowed to consent to hormonal and surgical interventions. Members dismiss concerns about these patients and characterise efforts to protect them as unnecessary “gatekeeping.”

The files provide clear evidence that doctors and therapists are aware they are offering minors life-changing treatments they cannot fully understand. WPATH members know that puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries will cause infertility and other complications, including cancer and pelvic floor dysfunction. Yet they consider life-altering medical interventions for young patients, including vaginoplasty for a 14-year-old and hormones for a developmentally delayed 13-year-old.

A growing number of medical and psychiatric professionals say the promotion of pseudoscientific surgical and hormonal experiments is a global medical scandal that compares to major incidents of medical malpractice in history, such as lobotomies and ovariotomies.

Guidelines for Gender Affirming Healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand comes out of a group called PATHA. In their Guidelines document, they specifically say “WPATH is the international body responsible for producing standards of care…  This guideline is not intended to replace the WPATH SOC but to present additional guidance for the provision of gender affirming healthcare in Aotearoa, New Zealand… WPATH SOC v7 guidelines provide internationally recognised standards and criteria for accessing gender affirming hormone treatment.”

Members of the Executive Committee and the Policy and Advocacy Committee of PATHA are members of WPATH and one of them is also a co-author of the latest revision of the WPATH Standards of Care.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora says on their website – “For referral acceptance to be considered patients need to: meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People, published by The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) version seven.” 

The most recent guidance from WPATH (version 8) suggested that if parents do not affirm their child’s newly chosen identity, the state may be enabled to intervene in order to assist with the child’s transition.

This new evidence from the WPATH files confirms what many parents and community leaders have been expressing concern about, and is a damning indictment on New Zealand’s approach to ‘transing’ our young people.

Family First will be writing to the Minister of Health to call for the immediate halt of the chemicalising of confused young people (puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, binding, tucking) in the name of gender ideology. These reviews are already happening in a number of other countries.

WPATH was considered the leading global authority on gender medicine – but it’s now been rightly exposed as the wild west of western medicine.

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Landlord Tax cuts cost explodes – as does Government’s Tax plans

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Changes to taxation for landlords have blown out in cost and taken the Government’s tax plans with them said CTU Economist and Director of Policy Craig Renney. “At the election, the National party claimed that the return of interest deductibility would cost $2.1bn. Now we discover it’s going to cost nearly $800m more”.

“This Government appears to have its priorities all wrong. It is committed to fattening the wallets of landlords, but it won’t commit to feeding hungry children in schools. There is no economic evidence that shows this tax cut will lead to lower rents. But there is plenty of evidence that nearly $3bn could make a huge difference to the state housing waitlist, or to those seeing their benefits cut in real terms”.

Renney said “This adds to the problems that National had in opposition making its tax plan add up. This blow-out for landlords needs to be added to the $1.35bn missing from welfare indexation savings. The potential $3bn from foreign buyers has gone, and the cost of indexing income tax changes is likely to be much higher than forecast.”

“This will likely mean deeper cuts to essential public services to pay for this plan. That in turn will impact every community around New Zealand. These are huge sums of money that could be invested in those with the very highest needs. Instead, it’s simply going to inflate the housing market again and force first home buyers to the sidelines”.

Renney said “It’s not too late to change. This tax change will go through the House very soon, but the Government could withdraw the bill and explain to New Zealanders why nearly $3bn needs to be spent in this way, instead of rebuilding the 350 schools that have been paused. It’s time to change track and invest in New Zealand, not landlords. 

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Govt must commit to follow Australia’s lead on pay gap reporting

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

NZ Council of Trade Unions Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges is marking International Women’s Day by calling on the Government to implement mandatory ethnic and gender pay gap reporting and follow Australia’s lead who recently released their first round of mandatory reporting.

In 2023, the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, acting as New Zealand’s Pay Transparency Advisory Group, recommended that a mandatory reporting system be adopted to help lower the ethnic and gender pay gap and increase transparency. The previous Government agreed to introduce legislation, but this did not occur before the election.
 
A mandatory system was supported at the time by the National Party and employer organisations such as the EMA.
 
“The Government needs to live up to their words in opposition and introduce legislation that requires pay gap reporting,” said Ansell-Bridges.
 
“We know that greater pay transparency through mandatory reporting will empower women and all working people to improve their pay.
 
“While the gender pay gap in Aotearoa New Zealand has fallen significantly since 1998, it is unacceptable that women are still paid 8.6% less than men. The gender pay gap for wāhine Māori, Pacific and Asian women, and disabled women is significantly higher.
 
“No one in New Zealand should suffer the indignity of pay discrimination due to their gender or ethnicity.
 
“Government has a chance to significantly improve the standard of living for women across the country by following expert advice and Australia’s lead. They need to take it,” said Ansell-Bridges.

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Public investment in New Zealand fails to meet growing need

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Today the CTU has released its report Investing in a growing population, which shows that up to an additional $19.9bn of public goods and services will be needed to service possible population growth over the next four years. This is before the Government’s planned cuts of $2.4bn.

The report examines the current levels of population growth, and forecasts from the Treasury of expected population change. We already know that we have accumulated a significant public infrastructure gap in Aotearoa. A growing population will add to these pressures.

 “A growing population will mean growing service and infrastructure needs. If we fail to pay for this now, we will pay far more down the line in higher costs and lower productivity. A responsible government would recognise that and make the essential investments,” said CTU Economist Craig Renney

“New Zealand faces the prospect of a significant investment gap opening up in just 4 years. Instead of making sure that everyone in New Zealand has access to the services they will need, the Government’s lack of investment will likely mean that Kiwis will face more an underfunded and overstretched public sector,” said Renney.

In order to understand the potential scale of the challenge ahead, the CTU has forecast population change in three scenarios:

  • The HYEFU forecast
  • The pre-Covid Annual Average growth rate (1.96%)
  • The Stats NZ December 2022-23 rate (2.81%)

Between 1994 and 2019, real investment per capita in New Zealand increased on average 1.16% per year – a period including many changes in government. None of the scenarios examined achieved that level of change – in fact 2 of the three scenarios see real per capita investment fall.

If the population grows by its pre-Covid rate, then the gap in investment needed to maintain current levels of real per capita investment is $7.9bn. This rises to $19.9bn if current levels of population increase are maintained. Cuts would add to this shortfall.

“If investment levels are not maintained, then we will be asking every dollar of public expenditure to go further and further. This will result in longer waitlists for services such as healthcare. It will mean less being invested per child in education. It will mean access to public services will become harder and harder for those who rely upon them,” said Renney.

 “Being fiscally responsible is as much about investing where needed, as well as getting the books into surplus. It’s time for a rethink.

“We have a Budget in May, and the Government could use the money that it is currently proposing to give to landlords and higher income earners to help close this gap. Budgets are about values, and this Government still has time to demonstrate that it cares about New Zealand’s growing population and its growing needs,” said Renney.

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CTU has informed EU of free trade agreement labour law breach

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The CTU has sent a letter to the European Commissioner of Trade to bring his attention to New Zealand’s disregard of its obligations under the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the NZ–EU FTA by the Government’s repeal of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs). The European Trade Union Confederation are also writing to the Commissioner.

Under the FTA, ‘a party shall not weaken or reduce the levels of protection afforded in labour law in order to encourage trade or investment’. But in the draft cabinet paper prepared for FPA repeal, a rationale given for repeal was that it is ‘crucial to business growth and investment’.
 
“We wrote to Minister van Velden in December 2023 before FPAs were repealed, to warn her of the risks to the NZ–EU FTA. We were deeply concerned that the Minister brushed aside our concerns, illustrating the Government’s intention to disregard the provisions of the agreement,” said Acting CTU President, Rachel Mackintosh.
 
“New Zealand has historically staked its international reputation on being a good faith partner in trade agreements and has been a vocal supporter of the rules-based international order. The Government’s recent employment law reforms run counter to these commitments.
 
“The CTU does not want to see New Zealand be party to an Agreement if we have actively undermined core provisions of it before it’s even ratified. This will negatively impact New Zealand’s international reputation and our ability to pursue and agree other free trade agreements in the future.
 
“Fair Pay Agreements would have supported thousands of some of the lowest paid workers in New Zealand by lifting their wages and setting core industry standards,” said Mackintosh.

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Government transport plan fails to provide economic security

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union says the new Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024–2034 fails to plan for a resilient and secure transport system, putting the New Zealand economy at risk.

The previous Government introduced coastal shipping as a new activity class in its GPS on land transport in 2021.

It invested $30 million in the coastal shipping sector which resulted in new vessels coming onto the New Zealand coast, reducing road congestion, improving resilience, and reducing carbon emissions.

This progress has now ground to a halt, with coastal shipping ignored in the new Draft GPS on Land Transport 2024.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says for the Government to simply leave out coastal shipping is a failure of insight into the long term needs of the transport sector.

Mr Harrison says the lessons of the last few years are obvious.

“We have seen major disruption to New Zealand transport links through the pandemic and natural disasters including cyclones and earthquakes, with regions left isolated and at risk.”

Mr Harrison says New Zealand needs a balanced, multi-modal system that prioritises redundancy and resilience in transport.

“This new draft document notes New Zealand has faced significant challenges from these events, but then ignores the important role of domestic coastal shipping that is now recognised in the industry.”

Mr Harrison says the Government seems to be basing its transport strategy on delivering for its donors, rather than any rational and balanced approach.

“As the rest of the world moves towards low emission, resilient transport modes, and prepares for climate change driven extreme weather events, New Zealand is left exposed and vulnerable.”

He says with the Cook Strait ferry connection in limbo, coastal shipping ignored, and a crisis in seafarer training, New Zealand is moving towards developing world status.

“The Government now has an opportunity to correct course and focus on the future resilience of New Zealand’s economy – or go in reverse gear by promoting a congested, polluted and vulnerable transport system.”

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ACC cuts will put the health of New Zealanders at risk

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

In response to news that ACC plans to cut operational spending by 6.5%, CTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Minister of Finance to prioritise the protection of essential services over irresponsible tax cuts.

“These sweeping cuts at ACC will put the health of New Zealanders at risk, demonstrating the devastating impact of the Minister of Finance’s directive for huge spending cuts across the public service,” said Wagstaff.
 
“Such significant cuts in operational spending will lead to job losses and less reliable services, compromising ACC’s ability to support people in need. It will now be much harder for people to access their entitlements and get the help they need to recover from injuries.
 
“I am very concerned for the workers at ACC whose jobs are now on the line, my thoughts are with them.
 
“In a desperate attempt to find the money to pay for tax cuts for wealthy landlords, this Government is undermining the essential services and workers who keep this country running.
 
“At a time when New Zealand’s population is growing rapidly, Government should be investing more to meet growing need, but instead the Minister of Finance is taking a slash and burn approach. It’s totally irresponsible,” said Wagstaff.

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New cross-Tasman maritime worker federation to bolster MUA and MUNZ power in Kiwi and Australian ports

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

At the Maritime Union of Australia’s National Conference in Adelaide the MUA and the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) announced a new federation bringing together the two unions in a formal arrangement to build workers’ power at ports throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking at the announcement, National Secretary of the MUA Paddy Crumlin explained that a formal arrangement was the next logical step for the two unions after many decades of closely working together on workplace, safety, geopolitical and industrial challenges facing maritime workers in both countries.

“The fraternal bonds that link our two unions are some of the closest, oldest and most durable in the trade union movement, and given we are working in an increasingly globalised workplace and standing up against some of the same bosses, it makes perfect sense to expand and bolster the strength of our Unions through a formalised federation,” Crumlin said.

MUA National Secretary, Paddy Crumlin, moves the resolution to enter a new federation with MUNZ at the MUA’s National Conference in Adelaide, 2024

The Maritime Union of Australia, formed in 1993, is an amalgamation of the old Waterside Workers Federation and the Seamen’s Union of Australia. The MUA, through its predecessor Unions has been an immovable force on the Australian waterfront and around our coastline for 151 years. Likewise, in 2002, MUNZ was formed through the amalgamation of two unions, covering wharfies and seafarers, that trace their histories in New Zealand to the 19th century.

“The history of maritime industries was one of casual labour, injury and death on the job, and ruthless employers who wouldn’t cede an inch to their workers,” said Craig Harrison, the MUNZ National Secretary.

“Our members had to fight for and defend their right to secure, permanent jobs, a decent wage and safe conditions of work. We have stood together to improve the lot of working people and their communities since those early days and we now look towards an even stronger presence on the waterfront and on our ships across the Asia Pacific through this federation with the MUA,” Harrison said.

Craig Harrison, National Secretary of MUNZ, addressing the MUA National Conference in Adelaide, 2024

The expansion of global network terminal operators and the voracious appetite of big employers like Qube for swallowing up smaller stevedoring operators across New Zealand has made the federation an obvious strategic step for the two unions to take together. The Australian Federal Government’s strategic shipping fleet commitment will also deliver significant trans-Tasman capacity and new training and employment opportunities in both Australian and New Zealand for maritime workers.

“We saw during COVID, where shipping and terminal operators manipulated vital supply chains to extract maximum profit from vulnerable countries like Australia and New Zealand that are entirely dependent on global shipping,” said Mr Crumlin. “Now the same cartel forces are organising against Australian and Kiwi communities to use the sheer brute force of capital to take control of our docks. They will jack up landside prices, control schedules and freight lanes, and drive down the working conditions and wages of our members, so the strategic importance of the relationship between the two Unions cannot be overstated,” Crumlin added.

The two Unions, together, represent tens of thousands of maritime workers. The MUA, a division of the CFMEU, has branches in every state and the Northern Territory while MUNZ has ten branches across both the North and South Islands. The two unions already attend each other’s National Council meetings and work in the strongest unified way across their shared international trade union affiliations and by sharing trade union training and standing side by side in struggle and campaigning.

Together, the MUA and MUNZ, have collaborated on a number of industrial and political campaigns and established strong fraternal bonds of solidarity between the two Unions. The ‘War on the Wharves’ charity boxing tournament, held each year to raise money for charity, is a long-standing expression of this close and important relationship.