National's lack of action means more unemployed New Zealanders

Alliance Party media release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday 22 April 2009

Alliance Economic Development Spokesperson Quentin Findlay said the National Government's employment strategy was "sinking fast" with the news that while 117 jobs had been saved, unemployment had increased by 17,000 in the last year.

Mr Findlay says the thousands of New Zealanders thrown out of work need to have active policies that retained and created employment and wages and kept the domestic economy buoyant.

"The Government appears to be blissfully hopeful, that the market will somehow correct itself and it only needs to tinker around the edges."

News that banks had scuttled one of the Government's job summit brainwaves, to provide equity for firms under financial threat, was not surprising, says Mr Findlay.

"The facts are that the private sector is interested in its bottom line."

Worryingly, the Government's response has been to tinker with fiscal policy and to implement policies which effectively reduced domestic demand, he says.

Mr Findlay says the Government is operating an indirect wage freeze through the implementation of its 9 Day working fortnight and through its plan to freeze pay in the public sector.

He says the only way job losses could be prevented was for the Government to rewrite legislation, such as the Reserve Bank Act.

"This would place the concept of full employment as one of its core economic priorities and to operate an expansionary policy in terms of infrastructure building."

Mr Findlay says such policies require active state involvement and a return of controls in the financial sector as well as the use of tariffs to retain and create employment and growth.

"Massive infrastructure programmes such as the rebuilding of New Zealand's crumbling rail network could be used to great effect in spearheading economic development."

Further tariffs were useful in protecting vulnerable industries and growing jobs, ensuring the wages and conditions were protected.

"The Government's policies are amazingly short term. A job saved here, a few more jobs saved elsewhere, but there is no long term plan to create and retain employment. It is simply creating a lone barrier of sandbags to protect against a recession tsunami."

ENDS

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