Latest news with #MartyMelville
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Pay equity bungle could cost Govt the election
As low-paid workers lose billions, young New Zealanders are stepping up and demanding answers. Photo / Marty Melville THE FACTS My kids haven't been particularly political – but pay equity has changed that. Growing up, the kids have helped me deliver pamphlets and attended political meetings since they were very young, but I reckon the promise of McDonald's on the way home had something to do with that.
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Budget 2025 the ‘buy your ticket to Australia' Budget
Where's the plan to deal with this? Nowhere to be seen. Don't get me wrong, as a business leader, the ability to deduct a bit of extra tax on new asset purchases is welcome and it might accelerate some investments. But it's not going to move the needle. Even Treasury predicts it will only add 1% of GDP over the next 20 years. That's 0.05% of GDP a year. Literally a rounding error for Statistics New Zealand. That's it? An extra 0.05% of GDP, a Waipawa's worth of economic output a year. That's the big plan we've been told to expect? Mark me down as unimpressed. Meanwhile, unemployment is taking a huge toll on our young people: 10.9% unemployment among 20-24-year-olds, 23.9% for 15-19-year-olds in the latest figures. Not because they're lazy and 'on the PlayStation' as Nicola Willis puts it. But because there aren't enough jobs. Youth unemployment didn't spike by 50% in the past year and a half because young people suddenly got lazy, eh? It's because the economy has lost over 30,000 jobs in that time, and the youngsters (along with Māori and Pasifika) always get the short end of the stick when there's not enough jobs to go around. Hassling young people who are stuck on the dole because there's no jobs won't suddenly get them into work. Forcing 19-year-olds who have lost their job to ask their parents to support them and cutting their dole off regardless of whether their parents do or not is just mean. And if they do get a job? Well, better hope it's not in a female-dominated industry, eh? Because pay equity is out the window. $13b of payouts to underpaid workers, $300 a week – gone. Oh, and your KiwiSaver contribution is going up, and Treasury expects the added employer contribution will ultimately come out of workers' pay, too. But the Government contribution, that's getting cut in half, which will mean tens of thousands less in your nest-egg when you retire. Maybe rangatahi should get some more education, so they can get a higher-paying job? Ah, but tertiary tuition funding is being cut in the Budget, and fees are going up. What about somewhere to live? Good luck. Money is being pulled out of house building and First Home loan assistance, and going into paying landlords in Auckland to convert their rentals over to social housing. I don't buy this dumping on the younger generation that seems to be so popular with this Government and certain commentators. They're not lazy or spoiled. They're no worse than we were and, in many ways, they're better – smart, inquisitive, and healthily sceptical. The latest Budget predicts slower growth and rising youth unemployment. Photo / Marty Melville But, I tell you what, they've got it harder than most of us had it. The Kiwi Dream that we used to all have a decent shot at achieving – a home of your own, a decent job paying enough for good quality of life – must seem light years away to today's 20-year-olds. Not a goal, just a joke. If you're a young person, you've got to be asking yourself – 'what am I staying here for?' Not for low wages and lack of an economic vision. Not for the crumbling infrastructure and the underfunded health system. Not for a Government that cares so little about the climate you'll have to live in that it's planning to invest in natural gas drilling. No wonder our young people are leaving this country in record numbers. After this Budget, the planes to Aussie are going to be chocka with our country's future, seeking a better chance across the sea. I'm all for international travel and OEs. I mean, I'm on my middle-age OE right now. But if my kids and my young whānau go overseas, I want them to go because they have built a great foundation in Aotearoa and, now, they want to see the rest of the world. And I want them to want to come back home after their travels. I don't want them to leave because the Government has as good as packed their bags for them and told them there's no hope for them here if they stay.
NZ Herald
18-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Employment law changes are a setback for NZ workers
Minister of Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden has her sights set on reforming the Health and Safety at Work Act. Photo / Marty Melville THREE KEY FACTS So many employment rights regressions, so little time. To start, this month the Government rammed through the Equal Pay Amendment Bill under urgency, gutting a law that helped women challenge entrenched pay discrimination. The new Equal Pay law reverses 2020 changes that streamlined
NZ Herald
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Government promises boy-racer crackdown
George won't let a wheelchair keep him from the climbing wall! Reporter Angelina is at the Halberg Games, where kids with disabilities are taking adaptive sports by storm. 14 years on from the earthquakes, Christchurch city prepares to open a first-class stadium while the Cathedral sits unfinished in an empty Square. A group of at least 100 gang members were monitored by police travelling to a function at a bar at Botany Junction. Video / Supplied Banana-clad mayoral hopeful Graham Bloxham talks about his arrest and plans for Wellington. Video / Marty Melville Rescuers search for survivors in the wreckage of the UNWRA school, where civil defence authorities say an Israeli airstrike killed nine people. Video / AFP At least three civilians, including a child, were killed after India fired missiles at Pakistani territory early today. VIdeo / AFP A 24-hour indoor golf fundraiser on May 23 will help raise funds and awareness for Remi Henderson who suffers from Rhett Syndrome. A section of Hamilton's Clyde St has been closed due to a gas leak. A bus has smashed into a tree in South Auckland with ambulance officers treating passengers at the scene. A Tauranga woman who made a late-night run to Maccas was told by a worker to cut her order in half and 'ration it'. Video / Reremai Cameron Unemployment to hit decade high, vape stores within walking distance of most schools and Trump told 'country is not for sale'. Milking goats has been Barry and Judy Foote's life. Now, they could be left with nothing. Video / Ben Dickens / Jason Dorday Premium Senior Political Correspondent Audrey Young speaks to Minister of Defence Judith Collins. Video / Marty Melville Reporter Kaleo and his crack Minecraft team are testing out Aotearoa Minecraft, a free game that features some of the most well-known locations from our own backyard! Michael Morrah explains what's happening inside Rome's Sistine Chapel. Video / Corey Fleming
RNZ News
27-04-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Pay deal to boost women's basketball in Australia
Kalani Purcell of the Tall Ferns dribbles the ball with Tess Madgen of the Opals during the Oceania Championship for Women basketball match between New Zealand and Australia at the ASB Baypark Events Centre in Tauranga on Monday the 17th August 2015. Copyright Photo Marty Melville / Photo: Marty Melville Women basketballers in Australia are set to see their minimum salary levels double over the next four years and gain base-level pay parity with men in the third year, in what the country's governing bodies called "an historic" deal. A new collective bargaining agreement will lift the minimum salary for players in the Women's National Basketball League from A$23,000 ($24,600) to A$46,952 ($50,300) by the 2028-29 season, with the league's salary cap jumping by 8 percent every year. "This agreement marks a historic milestone and is the biggest single leap forward in WNBL history," Jacob Holmes, chief executive of the Australian Basketball Players Association said in a statement. "WNBL players are now going to be invested in at a level that truly reflects their talent and dedication," he said. The 8 percent salary cap will mean a maximum salary of just over A$723,000 ($774,000) by the 2028-29 season. The agreement, which is aimed at retaining talent in Australia long-term, also includes full contract protection insurance payments for injured players and higher investment in players' wellbeing. - Reuters
