Letter No.5
21 November, 1994

5 November 1994

ACT New Zealand's Inaugural conference in Auckland sees calls for compulsory military training for unemployed people under 25 who have been on the dole for more than 3 months, and the abolition of welfare benefits in favour of people providing for themselves through insurance.

7 November 1994

New Plymouth District Council declines funding proposals for a community needs analysis into local health, employment and housing issues, and a work project for unemployed Taranaki representative sports people. This follows earlier refusals by the council to adopt measures that would help it take greater advantage of government employment programmes.

Power for Our Future convener Molly Melhuish says that poverty is the cause of a drop in electricity demand, not energy efficiency.

9 November 1994

Huge Democratic Party losses in the US mid-term elections which left the control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Republican hands, radically altering the balance of American politics.

An Economist article, widely reported in NZ, claims that the gap between rich and poor in NZ has become one of the highest in the world.

10 November 1994

Jim Anderton, NZ's most popular politician, resigns as leader of the Alliance for what he said were personal reasons.

Jim Bolger launches the Work Choice scheme in Auckland where thousands of student job hunters will get first-hand experience of careers by visiting companies and businesses.

11 November 1994

A record number of students are finding summer jobs, according to Student Job Search offices.

12 November 1994

Firefighters have filed an application in Parliament for a citizens initiated referendum on the proposed 340 job cuts that they say will reduce their effectiveness and safety.

Methodist Church members have been asked to go on hunger strikes over Christmas in efforts to highlight the plight of the poor.

13 November 1994

An international survey showed that NZ'ers are among the most stressed workers in the world.

14 November 1994

The Alliance sets out its terms for a coalition government with a twelve-point "bottom line" statement of policy objectives.

Industrial advocate Marc McCarthy says that some dairy workers are being subjected to horrific working conditions and low rates of pay similar to itinerant workers in California.

15 November 1994

Political leaders from 18 Pacific rim countries including Australia, NZ and the US, back the APEC plan for free trade and liberalised investment by 2020.

Nearly 100 Forestry Corp employees are to lose their jobs in a restructuring of processing operations at Waipa near Rotorua and at Mt Maunganui.

The government has ruled out levying employers to fund training in industry, and has set up a $1.5 million fund to kick-start Industry Training Organisations.

16 November 1994

Central Auckland Medical Officer of Health Lester Calder warns that increasing poverty in NZ may be causing an increase in the highly infectious and often fatal disease tuberculosis.

17 November 1994

About 7000 state tenants are expected to move house after announcements of government measures make them pay full market rents. The measures also include some increases in the accommodation supplements paid to tenants.

18 November 1994

Latest Employment figures released by Statistics NZ.

Financial markets react to better-than-expected employment data by pushing up wholesale interest rates based on fears that more jobs will also boost inflation.

19 November 1994

In Paris, Peter Sutherland, the head of GATT World Trade body warns that failure by newly US elected representatives to ratify the free trade treaty by the end of this year would destroy the entire post-war commercial system.

Jim Bolger in Bangkok defends NZ firms that are taking advantage of low labour costs in Thailand. Bolger was visiting a Brierley Investments-backed tomato paste and fruit juice venture in a region where wages are 40% of the average Thai wage of $1 an hour.