Letter No.59
5 May, 1997

17 April 1997

Henry Lang, the powerful public servant regarded as the father of the modern Treasury, dies in Wellington, aged 78 years.

The Waitangi Fisheries Commission decides to allocate its $380m fisheries assets on the basis of tribes, in a decision expected to displease almost all the parties concerned, but particularly the urban Maori authorities.

Employment Minister Peter McCardle says that simple household repairs and maintenance for low-income earners or beneficiaries could be done by job seekers earning the community wage.

18 April 1997

Education Minister Wyatt Creech tells the education select committee that university students are unlikely to get the income boost signalled in the coalition document. He says the document only commits him to "working towards" raising student allowances to the level of the dole and removing the parental means test.

Labour's Steve Maharey criticises suggestions that the unemployed could do household repairs and maintenance. Maharey: "Instead of meaningful jobs to prepare unemployed people for work, they will be doing chores-for-the-dole ..."

19 April 1997

Job losses are imminent at Capital Coast Health after its budgeted deficit is expected to hit $50m, almost twice that of the last financial year.

The Business Roundtable says that NZ is falling behind with its public asset sales, and needs to accelerate if it is to achieve and sustain significant economic growth.

21 April 1997

NZ's famous sock company, the Onehunga-based Holeproof Corporation, will cease its production in June, with the loss of 31 jobs. The Australian-owned company will now manufacture its socks across the Tasman, or in China.

22 April 1997

The government announces it is deregulating postal services by opening up NZ Post to competition in the delivery of standard letters.

The Marsden Point oil refinery's 500 full and part-time staff should know by October how many will be laid off as the company undergoes a major cost-cutting review. The company is attempting to reduce its operation costs by up to 25%, as the ageing refinery faces stiff competition from new and restructured Asian refineries.

23 April 1997

In Britain, more children are living in poverty than any other European country. The Guardian says the poverty level amongst children is about one-in-three.

Significant numbers of job-seekers are failing mandatory drug tests at the Kinleith pulp and paper mill upgrade construction project, a project expected to employ about 700 construction workers at the peak of the mill rebuild. The Dominion reports that about 30 carpenters failed tests in the past month, as did 19 of a busload of 22 fitter-welders who travelled up from Tiwai Point seeking jobs.

The Auckland region has been promised 260 more police officers over the next 18 months.

24 April 1997

Prudential Assurance has cut nearly 150 jobs as it absorbs the operations of NZI Life. It is expected that some of NZI's 24 branches would also be closed.

Women MPs from different parties in parliament are uniting to fight the government's compulsory superannuation plan. They say that any super scheme must take into account the economic reality of womens' lives, including the fact that they generally earn lower incomes and take breaks from the paid workforce to care for their families.

Lion Breweries suddenly closes its Hastings brewing plant, with the loss of 52 jobs. The work of the 115-yr old brewery will be transferred to Lion's Auckland brewery.

25 April 1997

Anzac Day.

A senior Territorial Force officer, Tim Brewer, gave an Anzac day speech in New Plymouth criticising the running down of NZ's armed forces. In the speech, Col Brewer said the army was in crisis, and he questioned whether the defence force had the ability to defend the country in war time.

Brewer: "The regular army has been run down to the point where it is barely capable of carrying out the day-to-day activities required of it ... Cutbacks in government spending and unattractive wages and working conditions have turned young people away from army careers."

More than 2,000 urban Maoris have signed a treaty register in Mangere, giving urban Maori authorities the right to represent them in Treaty of Waitangi matters.

In Sweden, it is expected that the "Kalmar Model" of job creation could create as many as 90,000 jobs within Swedish municipalities. Under the plan, municipalities would use the new employees to cover gaps in services that have occurred because of budget cuts. Municipalities would pay 15% of a worker's wage. The rest would come from normal unemployment funds.

26 April 1997

The British Labour Party is expected to win next week's election in the United Kingdom. The Labour Party says it will not raise benefit payments beyond inflation for at least five years -- part of its plan to move people out of poverty and into employment.

NZ could have its first national university next year if the proposal to merge the Auckland Institute of Technology, the Auckland College of Education and the Central Institute of Technology goes ahead. The "super university" will have about 15,000 students at six campuses, and will possibly be named The Rutherford University, after NZ scientist Sir Ernest Rutherford. It is expected that with the merger, about 70 of the 1800 existing staff will lose their jobs.

27 April 1997

Business confidence has fallen since the formation of the coalition government, according to the NZ Institute of Economic Research. The Institute says, however, that it was not low enough to suggest the economy was headed for a recession.

28 April 1997

In Independence Hall in Philadelphia, President Bill Clinton, flanked by two former presidents and a host of Hollywood and TV celebrities, launches a Summit for volunteer community service. Clinton called for "big citizenship" as an alternative to "big government". Clinton: "I want to redefine the meaning of citizenship in America -- you've got to serve your community to help make it a better place..."

Across town, an alternative 'People's Summit' of volunteer community groups was held to highlight the cuts in government funding to welfare and community services throughout America, and to criticise the "star-studded" Clinton volunteer campaign and its "implicit message" that funding gaps will be filled by volunteer efforts and philanthropy.

Sister Margaret McKenna, a Roman Catholic nun who joined the alternative rally: "We're here to say that not all is well in America. Some of us aren't getting basic justice, and that's more important than volunteering ... "

29 April 1997

More civilians are now doing what were once police jobs, in an effort by the police department to save money on staff. Non-sworn officers are now employed as communicators, driver-testing officers, driver liscencing staff, arms officers, property officers, personnel officers, court escort staff, watchouse assistants, traffic camera operators and fingerprint officers. The police say that no private companies are employed, but there are some staff on short-term contracts.

A prime ministerial task force on aging fears that NZ's rising elderly population will be trapped in low-income lifestyles.

30 April 1997

Australia's biggest company, Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd is to shed up to 2,500 jobs with the closure of raw steel making at its Newcastle plant by the end of 1999.

The head of the army has censured Territorial Force officer Col Tim Brewer for his "inappropriate"Anzac Day speech in New Plymouth.

The government will no longer directly pay kindergarten teachers -- prompting fears that their wage rates will plummet, and the kindergartens will be privatised.

Up to 90 jobs are likely to go at HMC Tapware in Auckland, which makes plumbing products for local and export markets. The company says its staff review reflects "grim times" in the industry.

1 May 1997

British Election Day. Landslide victory to the Labour Party led by Tony Blair.

Government figures show that youth suicide in NZ is on the increase.

2 May 1997

The United States Senate has confirmed Alexis Herman as U.S. Secretary of Labor, becoming the only black woman in Clinton's cabinet.

The People's Network third National Gathering begins in Wellington.

Labour's Steve Maharey launches a campaign against government plans to make the unemployed work for the dole. He says it could end up costing jobs because the work-for-the-dole programmes displaced people from existing paid employment.

3 May 1997

Japan's unemployment rate has hit a record high of 3.3% in the year to March.

The Independent reports that just over 40,000 more hectares of NZ land have slipped into foreign ownership since Winston Peters joined the coalition government. The sales involved a total of $1.14 billion.