Letter No.20
30 June, 1995

15 June 1995

The Forestry Corporation has leased 48ha of Maori land for a nursery from the Ngati-Rangiteaorere hapu in Rotorua, in a unique arrangement that will give the hapu first option on seasonal jobs.

Food costs rose 1.3% in May, the biggest rise since Sept 1989.

16 June 1995

Michael Laws' Hawkes Bay electorate referendum shows that 89.6% were in favour of requiring those on the unemployment benefit to do community work.

18 June 1995

The Alliance vows to fight market rentals in state housing in auckland with a series of public rallies.

Maori MP and Speaker Peter Tapsell says poor Maori health, education and high unemployment can be blamed on the lack of bold and vigorous Maori leadership, combined with a heavy Maori reliance on welfare.

19 June 1995

The annual G7 World Leaders Summit has ended in Halifax, Canada. The meeting took a major step towards creating a $60 billion emergency fund to prevent future Mexican-style currency melt-downs from triggering a global recession.

Time magazine observed tongue-in-cheek that the G7 leaders were holding many of their sessions in a Maritime Museum containing a deck chair from the ocean liner Titanic.

The second Commonwealth Non-Government Organisations (NGO) Forum opens in Wellington with 150 representatives from 50 Commonwealth countries. The theme is Pathways out of Poverty, and the Forum will make representations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in NZ in November.

21 June 1995

Manufacturers Federation Executive Director Simon Arnold says that falling US and Australian dollars are putting severe pressure on manufacturing profits, threatening their ability to continue investing and create new jobs.

Statistics NZ reports that building work in NZ was up 28% on last year.

22 June 1995

Internal Affairs Minister Warren Cooper announces that the referendum on firefighter job cuts will be held in December and not as a part of the October local body elections.

Australia's Industry Minister Peter Cook is called on to apologise after stating that NZ's unemployment rate would rise to 20% if out-of-work Kiwis in Australia returned home.

A population study of Hokianga by a local health trust shows that about 30% more people could be living in Northland than is shown in official census figures. Researchers say that any error in the census has significant implications for local government planning and social funding in the region.

23 June 1995

The second Commonwealth NGO Forum "Pathways Out of Poverty" ends in Wellington with a call to governments to reduce crippling debt burdens, review trade liberalisation, revise economic restructuring and provide more access to education and healthcare.

The NZ High Commissioner in Australia says that there are 17,200 unemployed Kiwis across the Tasman, and if they all returned home, the NZ unemployment rate would only rise 1%. New Zealanders in Australia have an 8.7% rate of unemployment which is lower than the 9.2% rate of Australian-born people.

Housing Minister Murray McCully says that about 2000 state house tenants are expected to move house because they cannot afford the latest rent rises due to be introduced on July 1st under the last phase of the government's market rent regime. About 1000 of these tenants have already been given transfers. Over 14,000 tenants will be expected to pay $30 a week more in rent rises, while 34,000 will pay an extra $10.

Roger Maxwell announces a change of heart by the government which will restore the $90,000 cut from the Student Job Search scheme.

24 June 1995

An Auckland firefighter, who was hailed as a hero for a dramatic rescue five years ago, says he fears for his life because of the public support he has shown for the re-organisation of the Fire Service.

25 June 1995

The COMMACT Aotearoa Conference opens in Wellington, with the theme of "Co-operation not Competititon in the Community Sector"

New calculations by the Treasury show that the government spends between $121,000 and $177,000 a person on its policy advisers ... a figure that includes the cost of paying, training and accommodating these public servants.

A report from the education Forum lobby group is critical of the ITO structure, saying it is in danger of creating monopoly powers for players who set the rules.

26 June 1995

The United Nations celebrates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco.

UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali says that the UN is practically bankrupt, and that achieving its goals would be difficult without financial support from its members.

The Labour Party calls for a National Day of Protest on July 1st to mark "the end of State Housing" in New Zealand. MP Paul Swain : "State housing is now required to make a profit. Ultimately it's undermining one of the basic things NZ used to provide - the ability to ensure low-income NZ'ers are properly housed..."

Restructuring at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will leave 30 staff without jobs.

The government survives a vote of no confidence by 49 votes to 44.

28 June 1995

United New Zealand, a new centrist political party, is formed in Wellington with seven existing MP's - National's Cabinet Minister Bruce Cliffe, and MPs Pauline Gardiner, John Robertson and Peter Hilt; Labour's frontbencher Clive Mathewson, and MP Margaret Austin, and Future NZ's leader Peter Dunne. The party instantly becomes the third largest party in Parliament. It has pledged to support the government on confidence and supply measures for the rest of its term of office.

The multi-party political accord on employment is signed in Wellington.

29 June 1995

The eleventh Heart Politics gathering begins at the Tauhara Centre in Taupo. Keynote speakers include Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, and Auckland law lecturer Jane Kelsey.