Labour Backs Workers While Govt Cuts Jobs And Protections
Labour believes everyone deserves decent, secure work that allows them to make positive choices in their own lives, Jan Tinetti said.
This May Day Labour is standing with workers to defend decent jobs and fair pay.
'Many Kiwis are struggling to find work or have lost their jobs because of this Government's disastrous choices,' Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.
'Under National, unemployment is up to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work. Construction workers are leaving the country, manufacturing jobs are being cut, and more Kiwis are worried about finding or keeping a job.
'They're also making life harder for those still in work by scrapping Fair Pay Agreements, docking pay for strike action, and halting progress on pay transparency and equity.
'That makes it harder for workers to negotiate fair wages and keep their jobs. People are left with less job security, fewer rights, and pay that doesn't keep up with the cost of living.
'Labour believes everyone deserves decent, secure work that allows them to make positive choices in their own lives,' Jan Tinetti said.
Jan Tinetti marked May Day at a workers' hui at Hopukiore (Mount Drury) Reserve in Mt Maunganui, one of several held nationwide to push back against the Government's anti-worker agenda. Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also spoke at a May Day event in New Plymouth with union leaders and workers. Other Labour MPs are marking the day at events around the country.
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The Spinoff
an hour ago
- The Spinoff
Here's what we know about the 3,145 candidates running in local elections
There's an abundance of Johns, Mikes and Davids, plus other scintillating statistics about the people vying for your vote. Nominations have closed, hoardings have popped up on roadsides and candidates are out and about, actively seeking your vote: it's officially local elections season. But what do we know about the 3,145 individuals running for 1,639 vacancies in 607 elections across 77 councils (some of them multiple times)? We trawled through the data – which LGNZ handily pulled from nomination forms into a couple of spreadsheets – and here's what we found. There are so many Johns, Mikes and Davids Scroll through alllllll the people standing in this year's local elections and some names will keep cropping up. John, Michael/Mike and David/Dave are the most popular names. While we don't have demographic details of candidates like age and ethnicity, Department of Internal Affairs data on baby names gives us an idea: these were among the most common names for boys born in New Zealand in the 1950s and 60s, so it's likely many of these candidates are baby boomers and older gen Xers. The same mostly holds true for women, although there are fewer women standing, and thus lower counts for their names overall. Karen was one of the most popular names for girls in the 1950s and 60s. However, Sarah was at its peak in the 1970s and 80s, and Rachel became popular in the late 70s. (Click the arrow at the top of the graph to show women's names.) This tracks with LGNZ's elected member census from 2022, which found that almost half of the men elected to local government were 61 and older (49%), while the percentage of women over the age of 61 was 27%. Live in the North Island? You'll probably have a Māori ward referendum The legislation that allows councils to have Māori wards for voters on the Māori roll has existed since 2001. However, many councils added Māori wards in 2022, when the Labour government removed a requirement for a binding referendum to be held if a petition signed by 5% of the region's population challenged the establishment of one. While all councils that have a Māori ward will still have that seat in the 2025-2028 term, the majority of those councils will have to hold a referendum on whether to keep or abolish it after that, as the current government has reinstated a referendum requirement. There's a clear geographical trend to councils with Māori wards, with the majority of councils in the North Island adopting them – but not in Tāmaki Makaurau. Some councils have Māori representation but don't need to hold referendums. Wairoa District Council, Ōpōtoki District Council and Waikato Regional Council have already held referendums for their Māori wards that received majority support. Bay of Plenty Regional Council has a piece of local legislation that created its Māori ward, so it exists under a different law and doesn't need to have a referendum. Environment Canterbury, another regional council, has Māori representation through appointees, rather than a vote, so it doesn't need to hold a referendum either. Only one mayor in the country has lasted eight terms – and he wants another Wayne Guppy, mayor of Upper Hutt, was first elected to the position in 2001. That means he's been mayor long enough that people who weren't even born when he first received the mayoral chains are now old enough to vote for him. However, the majority of mayoral candidates standing for re-election have completed only one term, and there are almost as many mayoral elections where the incumbent is not seeking re-election. Reasons for not standing again vary; Mackenzie District Council mayor Anne Munro is stepping down due to a cancer diagnosis, while Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said he is ready for a fresh start outside of local politics. The majority of elections with no incumbent are in the North Island, with only four of 23 elections in the South Island having no existing mayor standing. Ranked choice voting is much less common than first past the post While central government elections use the MMP system, the many elections for local bodies make things more complicated. Instead of just a party vote and an electorate vote, you will have a mayoral vote and a vote for local councillor(s); many places also have community or local boards, licensing trusts and regional councils too. Most local elections use first-past-the-post voting, meaning the winner is the person who gets the most votes. Some elections use ' single transferable vote ' systems, where you rank candidates based on how much you want them to win. If your first-ranked candidate doesn't get enough votes, your vote then passes to your second-ranked candidate and so on, meaning you still have a say even if your preference isn't met. Wellington and Dunedin are the biggest cities that have adopted this method. Otago Regional Council and Whangārei District Council will be holding their first STV elections in 2025. Big cities have fewer candidates to population (but there's a catch) In central government elections, there are about 69,875 people in each electorate, represented by one MP, with slightly more (74,367) for Māori electorates. Counting list MPs, there are about 43,000 people per MP. Comparing this ratio to local government elections shows how much easier it is for people who are keen to represent their community to be elected. Auckland has the highest ratio of people:candidates, at one candidate for every 3,800 people, while the Chatham Islands has the smallest at 1:45. Bigger cities have more people to candidates – but bigger cities often have more choice, because more people choose to run. You also get more options of people to vote for: in Auckland, most people get to vote for a mayor, one or two councillors on the governing body and local board members, while in a smaller area like Westland you might just get to vote for one ward councillor and one mayoral candidate. These statistics conceal how despite the greater rate of representation, seats in smaller councils have less competition overall, especially for more minor positions like community boards. Part of the argument for merging councils is that while there might be some loss to how represented citizens are, bigger councils have bigger budgets (including for paying elected members) and there might therefore be more and better candidates as a result. Candidate priorities: rates, community and choice Some candidates submit affiliations with their nomination, saying what they stand for, or naming the ticket they represent. The most common words in these slogans reveal some obvious trends. The Labour-affiliated ticket 'The People's Choice', in Christchurch, clearly had its candidates coordinating to all have the same information on their nominations. Other party presences in local politics pop up too, like 'Green', 'Act' and direct 'Labour' candidates. There were the exact same number of 'our' and 'you/your' pronouns in slogans, while there was only one instance of 'my', in the phrase 'your life is my life' from a candidate in Rolleston. 'Lower', unsurprisingly, was universally paired with 'rates'. For this analysis, we included 'for' 'your' 'our', but not 'the' or 'a', with the logic that the preposition 'for' contains more information about what a candidate believes than the article 'the'.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime's claims of fight clubs, meth in youth justice facilities not substantiated by officials
Prime's claims about fight clubs, meth The Herald has obtained three letters between Prime and Chhour sent in the weeks after the Labour MP made the claims at the Social Services and Community select committee on June 18 about fight clubs and meth use. During that session, Prime asked about funding in this year's Budget for safety improvements in youth justice residences, including to address 'critical safety risks'. Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime is standing by her approach. Photo / Mark Mitchell She wanted to know why this was necessary considering Chhour said last year that work had been done to bring facilities up to a standard she was comfortable with and she was confident young people were now safe. The minister responded by saying change wasn't achieved overnight and she was wanting to constantly invest 'in the right places to make this sustainable and enduring'. Prime then asked whether the minister was aware of 'fight clubs' and 'significant methamphetamine use' in the facilities and asked 'What is in your Budget to address this?' Chhour responded that she wasn't aware of either, but told Prime 'if you are aware of those kinds of situations happening, I would urge you to come and let me know about that'. 'Sure, will do,' Prime said. Chhour went on to say the risks being addressed included staff previously not being listened to and contraband being brought into facilities. She has previously announced legislation to introduce new search provisions to reduce the risk of unauthorised items entering residences. Info 'from a credible source' - Prime The letters show that about a week after that session, Chhour wrote to Prime to 'follow up' about her questions. 'I am writing to reiterate my invitation to you and urge you to approach these issues with the seriousness they deserve given the health and wellbeing implications for the young people within the residences.' She asked Prime to provide information around what prompted the questions 'so that my office is able to follow up with Oranga Tamariki'. On July 3, Prime responded saying she asked about fight clubs and meth as 'I wanted to understand if these were the critical safety issues that received funding in Budget 2025 to address'. 'My questions were based on information from a credible source that I trust. I had expected that you would follow up with Oranga Tamariki based on the questions that I asked during the select committee Estimates Hearing. I certainly encourage you to do so now.' She said the well-being of young people 'is always my primary concern'. Chhour wrote on July 14 confirming her office 'did follow up straight away' with Oranga Tamariki. 'My officials advised me they have a range of measures in place to reduce that risk, but are not aware of any recent incidents matching that description, so are unable to investigate or intervene further.' She said she appreciated Prime wanted to protect her source, 'however without more information it is challenging for Oranga Tamariki to take action'. 'Please encourage them to report any incidents involving this kind of harm to young people to Oranga Tamariki, or Police, or consider utilising the Protected Disclosures Act 2022 if necessary.' Children's Minister Karen Chhour wanted more information from Willow-Jean Prime. Photo / Mark Mitchell Officials couldn't substantiate claims - Chhour Speaking to the Herald, Chhour said her focus was on ensuring children's safety. 'If there is an issue or a concern around the safety of young people, I would hope that politics would be put aside and the young people's safety would be put first,' she said. The minister suggested Prime could have taken a different approach with her question if she wanted to raise it publicly. 'The question could be asked in a completely different manner of, 'I'm hearing of concerns of this happening' rather than 'do you know about this'.' While Chhour said Prime did not contact her after the select committee, despite her invitation, the minister said she asked staff to look into the situation. However, officials couldn't substantiate Prime's comments, Chhour said. 'We've gone out, we've asked questions, we're looking. But unless we have a real focus on where to look, it's very hard, especially if people aren't speaking up, which is my message here. Please speak up.' She is not aware of any disclosures since she wrote to Prime. Chhour acknowledged incidents of youth fighting have happened in the past 'prior to me being minister', but she couldn't recall anything similar recently. She said occasionally illegal drugs were smuggled into residences, 'but no, a significant meth use has not been raised with me'. Oranga Tamariki runs the facilities. Photo / Jason Oxenham Prime told the Herald the information was provided by a 'trusted source'. 'I asked these questions within the context of the minister's statement last year claiming she was confident that young people in facilities were now safe and that those issues were no longer happening. 'This year's Budget then went on to pledge millions for critical safety risks – raising questions about what issues they were addressing. Abuse has been well documented in the history of these facilities, and any concerns that it is continuing must be taken seriously." Prime said, 'We need every confidence that history isn't repeating itself in state care.' Children's Cmmr unaware of meth, fight clubs Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said she took a close interest in the treatment of children in residences, especially given previous concerns relating to their treatment at Korowai Manaaki. A report by the commission's monitoring team stemming from a visit in February last year found instances there of fighting as well as illegal substances, such as cannabis. However, through the monitoring process, 'we have not been made aware of methamphetamine use in youth justice residences, and we have not heard about fight clubs since the leaked footage reported in 2023'. Video footage in July 2023 showed MMA-style fighting taking place in a youth justice residence. Staff were stood down after the video went public. Iain Chapman, acting deputy chief executive for Oranga Tamariki's Youth Justice Services and Residential Care, confirmed the agency was 'not aware of any recent incidents relating to significant methamphetamine use or fight clubs within our youth justice facilities'. 'The health, safety and wellbeing of rangatahi in our residences is a constant focus for Oranga Tamariki and we have significant work under way to enhance operational security in these spaces. 'We would encourage anyone with any information about harm to young people in residences to contact Oranga Tamariki or New Zealand Police.' The letters come after the Herald revealed last week that Prime ignored and then flat-out declined invitations by Education Minister Erica Stanford about NCEA reform despite Labour calling for cross-party consultation. Prime has since said she could have responded to Stanford to explain why she wasn't taking up the offers, while Labour leader Chris Hipkins has said his MP has 'learned a lot' from the episode. Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
NCEA overhaul explainer: What we know and don't know, and who might fall through the cracks
'The proof will be in the pudding,' says Rangitoto College principal Patrick Gale, who chaired the reform advisory group to the Government. There are a variety of opinions on how that pudding is shaping, and it's still early days; feedback on the proposals is open until September 15, with Cabinet releasing final decisions in November. The idea is that the new system will keep the best of NCEA's flexibility, but with enough structure and prescription to provide confidence about what students have learned for parents, tertiary education providers and employers. But even the discussion document on the proposals says it's likely student achievement will dip during the transition, while sector leaders warn an over-correction will result in our most disadvantaged students falling through the cracks. There are concerns pulling back on NCEA's flexibility will favour students from richer backgrounds, while the disadvantaged fall through the cracks. Photo / 123rf How did we get here? NCEA has become so flexible that it's being gamed, damaging its credibility. You can gain Level 2 or 3 with a mash-up of mostly internal assessments across several subjects, for example, and then not show up to the exam at the end of the year. This isn't universal, as Education Minister Erica Stanford stressed last week, and NCEA remains a decent qualification for many students. But after more than two decades, it's still confusing for many parents, employers and tertiary education providers. Briefings to the minister, including from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, warned of a credibility crisis, a lack of coherent vocational education pathways , and an over-reliance on internal assessments. Nearly half of Year 12 students who achieved Level 2 last year did so 'without engaging in a full programme of coherent subject-based learning', while a third of Year 12 and 13 students with Level 2 or 3 relied on unit standards from 'disparate' subjects. The Government wants to curb this flexibility in exchange for more structure and prescription, with a subject score out of 100 that is more easily understood. Instead of NCEA Level 1, students will work towards a Foundational Skills Award in Year 11, a NZ Certificate of Education (NZCE) in Year 12, and a NZ Advanced Certificate of Education (NZACE) in Year 13. Maths and English will be compulsory subjects in Year 11. It's unclear whether the Foundational Skills Award will differ from the current online numeracy and literacy tests. Students will need to pass four out of five subjects to gain NZCE or NZACE. The proposed new record of achievement. Supplied / Ministry of Education How University Entrance accommodates the new qualifications remains to be seen. It currently requires, among other things, a minimum of 14 credits at NCEA Level 3 in each of three approved subjects. 'The proposed system increases that minimum to four subjects to pass, but it is not yet clear what subjects these will be in, which will be one of the things we consider,' University NZ said in a statement. 'University Entrance is a robust indicator of a student's readiness for degree-level standards, and we would expect that to continue under a new system.' Best of both worlds – in theory The flexibility of NCEA, however, is what was – and still is – lauded by some schools. It provided an easier way to reward students for what they'd learned, especially if their preferred way of learning didn't fit neatly into the traditional classroom, or via an end-of-year exam. This was particularly useful for those with special learning needs because of, for example, their dyslexia, ADHD or autism. Assessments were made in a fundamentally fairer way too, with students' work compared to a certain standard. In the old School Certificate-Bursary system, students were compared to each other and their marks were weighted to fit the standard deviation curve. The new system will remain standards-based, though how that will be compatible with a subject score out of 100 is one of the details yet to be worked out. 'A raw number grade, like 54%, doesn't actually show what you understand,' said Post-Primary Teachers Association president Chris Abercrombie. 'The standards base can show, for example, 'Chris is really good at writing essays, he's not very good at graphs'.' PPTA president Chris Abercrombie says the timeframes for replacing NCEA are tight but not impossible. Photo / Supplied It would be ideal to have a high level of detail about what a student knows, as well as an overall score that indicates the student's knowledge of the subject's curriculum. 'We're not entirely sure how exactly it's going to work. A percentage grade and a standards-based assessment kind of don't go together, per se,' Abercrombie said. 'It'll be really interesting to see exactly what it looks like.' Some flexibility, but not too much A key magic trick will be swinging the pendulum towards a more rigid system in a way that retains enough flexibility to benefit those with special learning needs, but not so much that credibility starts to crumble. The chief concern is who will fall through the cracks if the swing is too great. 'If there's an overcorrection, we know it'd be neurodiverse, the low socioeconomic, the students with specific learning needs,' Abercrombie said. 'We don't want that because that was the point of NCEA, to be a bit fairer. We're worried this is potentially an overcorrection, leading to more students leaving school without a qualification.' Special assessment conditions, commonly used for the likes of ADHD students, are being retained, with NZQA looking at ways to strengthen them. Again, what this will eventually look like is still being worked through. A greater emphasis on external assessment, which is being proposed, should make it harder to game the system. The internal-external split is another detail yet to be worked out and is likely to vary subject to subject, including whether an end-of-year exam is suitable. NCEA is thought to make learning easier for the neurodiverse and the new system aims to keep enough flexibility to retain this benefit. Photo / 123rf 'An exam is a good way to assess someone's memory, but it's not necessarily a good way to assess certain skills or certain knowledge,' Abercrombie says. 'Art, for instance, that's often an internally done portfolio that's marked externally. The students work on it during the year and then it's sent off to be marked.' Will more students fail? More failures are obviously not the intent. But if students are passing by gaming the system, and that won't happen so easily in the new system, then fewer students will pass, all other things being equal. The counter to this is that's the point and the new system will remedy the declining credibility of the current set-up. Not that all other things are staying equal. The Government has already moved towards structured literacy and mathematics (though there is contention over the latter's legitimacy), an increase in learning support funding, and refreshed curriculums with a focus on knowledge-rich content (though teacher feedback has seen the timeline for the rollout pushed back). Even if it all goes well, such a radical change is unavoidably disruptive. Educational achievement is 'likely to decline in the short term compared to NCEA' before lifting again, says the discussion document on the proposed changes. There is also concern about creating an inflexible two-tier system, one for academic students and another for vocational pathways. 'We don't want to lock some 13-year-old into a pathway they don't want to be on when they're 17 or 18,' Abercrombie said. Minister of Education Erica Stanford wants to phase out NCEA over five years. Photo / Dean Purcell Is it all too much, too quickly? The proposed timeline is to phase out NCEA over five years, with the current system and the new system – including the old curricula and refreshed curricula – running parallel for some of those years. This is a lot for schools and teachers, on top of the workforce challenges that already exist. The timeline makes sense, said Rangitoto College principal Patrick Gale. 'It saves a double change of adapting the existing system to new curriculum as it rolls through and then adapting once again to a new assessment system, if decided upon. 'Effective resourcing of new curriculum and associated materials is essential. This was not done well with previous NCEA Level 1 adjustments.' Abercrombie says the timeline is 'not impossible, but tight'. 'Teachers are going to be teaching the old curriculum, the new curriculum, the current NCEA and the new qualifications, all at the same time. A lot of the new curricula aren't even due until the end of this year. That doesn't leave a lot of time for feedback. 'That's a lot of work at a time where we've got shortages; we don't have enough subject specialist teachers. 'We just really need the confidence that the ministry and the minister have a clear resourcing and implementation plan for this.' The implementation timeline. Supplied / Ministry of Education Unease over AI marking Last week Stanford hailed the use of AI for marking, which was already in use for literacy and numeracy corequisite exams. Abercrombie said there were potential benefits in reducing teacher workloads, but the general feeling among PPTA members was that AI 'isn't there yet to be able to confidently mark'. As it evolves, he said it should only be used where it made sense, for example in marking a mathematics question rather than an essay about a Shakespeare play. 'There's also another element. Students like having their teacher mark their work and give them feedback. Teaching is about relationships. Hopefully it's not done in a way that is going to undermine that relationship. 'We'd hate to get into a situation where the computer says you've failed.' Derek Cheng is a senior journalist who started at the Herald in 2004. He has worked several stints in the press gallery team and is a former deputy political editor.
