November 30, 2009
Media Release

Taskforce rehashes dangerous and discredited policies

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union says the first report from the 2025 Taskforce should be recognised for what it is – a rehash of the discredited economic dogma that led to the widening of the Trans-Tasman income gap in the eighties and nineties.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the real question is why the taskforce was stacked with fringe ideologues in the first place.

“Given the decision to put this review in the hands of the likes of Don Brash and Bryce Wilkinson, it’s hardly surprising that they have trotted out the same old discredited ideology that got the country into so much trouble in the first place.

“If you put lunatics in charge of the project, don’t be surprised when they design a mad house.

“From stripping superannuation to removing work rights to user pays, to privatisation, every single recommendation made is about transferring wealth from the many to the few and any shift the government makes in this direction will only hurt working Kiwis and their families.

“We need a serious debate on how we create wealth, how we do so without endangering the planet, and how the wealth is fairly shared to achieve the aim of lifting incomes for everyone.

“The Brash report fails to bring anything fresh or new to this debate and just massages the old right-wing tender spots.

“If there had been broad-based input into this taskforce we might have seen some sensible ideas about sustainable productivity growth but I suspect that would not have served the government’s political purposes.”

The EPMU has a longstanding interest in productivity growth, and last year set up the Centre for High Performance Work in conjunction with the Dairy Workers Union to get workers and their employers working together to improve workplace productivity.

For more information about the Centre visit www.chpw.org.nz.

ENDS

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