Labour leader Chris Hipkins has announced that if re-elected the Government would “progressively move workers across health and education onto at least the living wage”.

Hipkins was speaking from the campaign trail in Auckland’s Māngere.

“Our health care assistants, caregivers, and school caretakers all play an important role in delivering our public services and should be better supported to have a decent standard of living.

”We’re investing in our frontline services and people, not cutting them.

”This builds on our delivery of the living wage to workers on contracts for cleaning, catering and security guards across the public service.”

Labour will also ensure the minimum wage is raised every year, closing the gap between the minimum and living wages,” he said.

Hipkins said the Government wanted to reduce the gap between the living wage and minimum wage, scrap starting out and training minimum employment rates, modernise employment relations and protect collective bargaining and safeguard Fair Pay Agreements, sick leave, and restrictions on 90-day trials.

“When Labour came into Government, the living wage was $20.20 per hour - almost five dollars an hour more than the minimum wage. Labour’s increases mean the current minimum wage was less than a dollar lower than the 2022/23 living wage,” Hipkins said.

”Lifting the minimum wage will support our lowest income earners and see wage growth continue upwards above the minimum wage too.”

He added that if re-elected, Labour would support young workers to have meaningful and secure employment by repealing the starting out and training rates.

”Current legislation allows our youngest workers and our workers undertaking training to be paid less than the statutory minimum rate, even though they are often doing the same work as their colleagues,” Hipkins said.

”Only a small number of young people are employed using these lower wages and removing them will help to restore equity in our minimum wage system.”

In announcing the policy positions, Labour Spokesperson for Workplace Relations and Safety Carmel Sepuloni claimed workers rights were “under threat” should National and Act gain power.

”Only a Labour government will safeguard fair pay agreements, where applications are currently progressing to improve pay and conditions for bus drivers, hospitality staff, early childhood teachers, port workers, cleaners and security guards.

”A re-elected Labour Government will build on worker’s rights by protecting the value of collective bargaining, better-defining employees and contractors to protect vulnerable workers, and creating safer workplaces through better workplace violence support and education programmes.

”Labour has always been the party that protects and boosts workers’ rights. The choice this election has never been starker as a National/Act coalition line up to cut workers’ rights, while we commit to boosting them.”

Hipkins told the media at the announcement there was a lot happening on the residential building front.

That included a record number of housing consents and other actions that would make things better for first-home buyers.

Hipkins said it was imperative that any Government funding put into workplace and training schemes was well-targeted.

Meanwhile, Sepuloni took a swipe at Act Party leader David Seymour for his latest attacks on the Ministry of Pacific Peoples.

She said he couldn’t believe he continued to take aim at the department which represented a significant part of New Zealand’s population.

Hipkins again hit out at National’s policies, saying he didn’t think National had “evidence” that they could afford their policies.

“I think they know the claims they are not going to cut health and education . . . they know they are [not right].”

On his recent poor poll results, Hipkins said there is only one poll that matters and that’s the one where everyone votes.

Hipkins hinted there are more policies to come.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins on the campaign trail in Auckland today. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Hipkins and National’s Christopher Luxon are just days away from facing off in the first televised leaders’ debate on Tuesday, which one commentator considers to be the campaign’s “pivotal moment”.

Hipkins spent his Friday north of Wellington in areas that neighbour his Remutaka electorate. The public appearances followed his commitment to modernise sexual consent laws and address court backlogs by expanding audio-visual technology use and assessing whether the current frequency of jury trials in district courts was warranted, if Labour was elected.

The announcement also included a promise to establish a formal class actions regime that would “allow victims with similar interests to collectively sue in a more efficient and cost-effective way than currently possible”, Hipkins claimed.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins during his visit to Castor Loop housing project in Porirua. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

The proposed changes to consent, including creating a positive definition of consent and examining the efficacy of sexual conduct offences, were welcomed by staff at Porirua’s women’s refuge, who told the Labour leader the reality of their clients’ lives. 

Prior to that, Hipkins achieved the traditional campaign milestone of taking photos with babies at the Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten Association in Porirua. As a father of two, Hipkins appeared comfortable with 6-month-old Alyssa Kanavatoa in his arms. He was later given two other babies - one cried but the Labour leader reacted well, soothing them quickly. 

Association members, who also supplied hundreds of families with food parcels, were very supportive of Labour’s recently announced policies, including free dental care for under-30s, expanding 20 hours’ free childcare to 2-year-olds, and paid partner leave. 

He followed comments about his own policies with warnings about National’s tax plan, arguing the party’s proposed tax cuts would be too costly. 

Hipkins later told journalists the tax cuts were “irresponsible and unaffordable”. 

Under National’s $14.6 billion plan, almost half was to come from four new taxes, including taxing foreign buyers 15 per cent on the purchase of homes over $2 million. 

Some economists had questioned assumptions behind the plan. National has repeatedly refused to release the details of its modelling and the full review of its tax promises, conducted by economics consultancy Castalia. 

The assumptions made in regard to the foreign buyers’ tax had “more holes than a block of Swiss cheese”, Hipkins said. 

National Party leader Christopher Luxon, with Erica Stanford, Judith Collins and Mahesh Muralidhar at a policy launch in Auckland. Photo / Alex Burton 

National leader Luxon today continued to bat away questions about the tax plan while unveiling a new technology and visa policy, which focuses on allowing employees at tech companies to get the most from their share options and getting international entrepreneurs into the country. 

The party would also establish a minister of technology. 

Immigration spokeswoman Erica Stanford announced a suite of visa changes, including introducing three different types of visas: 

• International Graduates Visa – a three-year open work visa for highly educated people who have graduated with a Bachelor’s degree or higher within the past five years from one of the top 100 universities in the world. This visa will initially be capped at 500 successful applicants in the first year. 
• Global Growth Tech Visa – a residence visa for people with highly specialised skills who have worked at a top global tech company earning at least NZ$400,000 a year. This visa will initially be capped at 250 successful applicants in the first year. 
• Digital Nomad Visa – a 12-month visa to attract skilled, highly mobile people to come to New Zealand while working remotely for an overseas-based company, with the option to apply for a work or residence visa later if they choose to stay. This visa will initially be capped at 250 successful applicants in the first year. 

Act Party leader David Seymour, speaking from Christchurch, revealed his party’s welfare policy which would mean drug addicts could face the prospect of losing their benefit if they refused treatment or didn’t make efforts to find work. 

He wanted to reduce the current number of 4000 people who receive the Supported Living Payment because of stress, 70 per cent of whom have received it for more than five years. 

Under the welfare policy, “designated doctors” will be hired to identify cases of fraud and ineligibility, ensure people are on the correct benefit and are supported to meet any job-seeking obligations. 

“It will increase the number of cases that are picked up as fraud, as there will be more active inquiries into cases, and doctors will feel empowered to offer a frank opinion.” 

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.