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Posts Tagged ‘Wage gap Australia’

Higher wages

Posted by Trevor Mallard on September 25th, 2011

Talking to a young guy yesterday. Knew him when he was at secondary school about a decade ago.

He now lives in Aussie. Not because he wants to but because he feel it is the only way he can get ahead.

Over to watch of few games at RWC and to see family.

Drives a truck.

Earns roughly double what he got here. And then there is the employer funded super on top of that. Cost of living not much different.

His rig is slightly bigger but much more sophisticated than here. He gets lots more training on the job and he reckons he is about three times as productive.

I reckon he has to be more productive because his wages are higher and hs employer trains him more and invests in better capital goods for him to use, in order to make a profit.

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Filed under: Cost of Living, economy, wages
21 Comments

Did John Key forget to take advice?

Posted by Darien Fenton on April 22nd, 2011

Kiwi families lose another public holiday this weekend as Easter Monday coincides with Anzac Day.  This is the second day this year that falls on a weekend and won’t be Mondayised, so Kiwis have been shortchanged by two public holidays this year.

Aussie workers are getting another day off on Tuesday to compensate, supported by their government, so they aren’t “robbed” of a public holiday.

Back in January, John Key said he would take advice on allowing holidays that fall on the weekends to be taken on another day.

Since then, silence.

I would have thought this was something to be considered, given that workers have had such an awful year.

But then we wouldn’t want to do anything to close the 30% competitive advantage between Aussie and cheaper New Zealand workers now would we?

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Filed under: Holidays, value of work, workers rights
51 Comments

Tyre Kicker in Chief

Posted by Grant Robertson on July 29th, 2010

Interesting to read Duncan Garner’s take on John Key’s answering on the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand

Yesterday’s performance in Parliament was too selective and too slippery for him to get away with. All the statistics show the gap between Australian wages and Kiwi wages is growing – but Key refused to accept it. He refused to admit it. In fact he went the other way – he said the gap is closing. It’s not, no matter which figures you focus on.

It was an interesting insight into the sensitivity of the government on this issue that Key would try to argue that black was white, when the numbers, even under his chosen construction pointed to the gap widening. It was a bit more than slippery too- it was a very deliberate attempt to mislead.

All of this began as a result of questioning on the absence of an economic plan from National to achieve their stated objective of catching up with Australia. This is a vitally important issue for the country. Concern about this is not only coming from our side of the political spectrum but also from those more closely aligned with the Nats.

Trans-Tasman, the political newsletter today devotes a significant amount of space to concern about the lack of courage in the Government’s programme noting that the obesession with a safety first approach is raising questions about the willingness to take the hard calls and saying poll driven leadership is raising questions about policy intentions.

Many months ago on this blog I described Mr Key as being ” all map and no compass”.  As they say in the House, I stand by that statement.

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Filed under: Foreign Affairs, economy, national, wages
17 Comments

The Wage Gap

Posted by Chris Hipkins on July 28th, 2010

Before the last election the wage gap with Australia was John Key’s #1 issue. Key even went as far as to say that the ‘fundamental purpose’ of his government would be to narrow the gap. Listening to Gerry Brownlee and John Key in the House today and yesterday, apparently the problem has been solved already.

Yesterday Brownlee claimed that the gap ‘is certainly a lot less than it was when Labour was in office’ despite the fact that it has blown out by more than $50 a week since National took office. In the last quarter, according to official statistics, Australian wages have increased by $17 a week, compared to $3 for Kiwi workers.

Kiwi workers will fall even further behind from October when they will be paying a consumption tax (GST) that is 50 percent higher than in Australia. We have caught up with Australia in one respect though, when National took over we had a lower unemployment rate – they’ve managed to turn that around in 18 months!

So where is John Key’s plan? Smiling and waving for the cameras won’t get us there. As Annette King said in the House yesterday, “It’s time for the Government to stop kicking the tyres, put some petrol in the tank. start the engine and go somewhere!”. Couldn’t have said it better…!

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Filed under: Cost of Living, economy, wages
22 Comments

Where’s the plan for jobs?

Posted by Chris Hipkins on April 9th, 2010

John Key promised that under a National government we’d catch up to Australia. He has succeeded on one measure. When he took office we had a lower unemployment rate than the Aussies. Under Key we’ve not only caught up, we’ve overtaken them.

In the past month 20,000 new jobs were created in Australia, the 7th straight month the number of jobs increased over the ditch. 215,000 jobs have been created in Oz in the past 6 months. Here in New Zealand 60,000 Kiwis have lost their jobs since National took office.

National has had a year and a half to implement their plan (or come up with a new one) yet they’ve spent it sitting on the sidelines. By contrast the Labor govt in Aussie has invested in a bold stimulus package, with a particular focus on R&D and education (unlike National who have cut both). Now National wants to raise GST too.

I hope this year’s Budget will demonstrate that National does actually have a plan. If they don’t, I suspect even more Kiwis will be crossing the Tasman.

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Filed under: Unemployment, economy, jobs
53 Comments

Ambitious for New Zealand?

Posted by Carol Beaumont on November 6th, 2009

Unemployment  is continuing to rise.   Grant’s post yesterday outlines the numbers and the human cost.  

We have  a Government supposedly ambitious for New Zealand.  That includes wanting to close to 30% pay gap with Australia.   Well a year on from the election where are the initiatives to invest in New Zealanders skills levels and where are the initiatives to increase innovation? 

Investment in skills,  at a time of increasing unemployment and in a country where we clearly have real skill gaps ( not just  in terms of literacy and numeracy but also in  the science, technical and trades areas),  is an obvious and important step for government.  The benefits accrue to individuals, to businesses, to families and communities and to our economy.  

Despite all of this there have been no new initiatives in the skills area and well thought through initiatives from the previous Labour government have been ignored.  Funding for adult and community education has been slashed and tertiary institutions are turning people away!  This is scandalous and far from ambitious.

What has happened to encourage innovation?  Compare the scrapping of R&D tax credits here with the major increases in this area in Australia as outlined here and commented on here.

The Government has  a supposed commitment to closing the wage gap with Australia.  This will not happen without investing in skills and in innovation.  The Government’s stated desire to lift productivity is nothing but hot air without major investment in these areas.  No wonder the Prime Minister was unwilling to state an actual target for closing the wage gap when interviewed this morning on Morning Report.

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Filed under: Unemployment
25 Comments