Letter No.61
30 May, 1997

15 May 1997

Labour MPs have agreed to sign a pledge reaffirming their support for the return of universal student allowances. The allowances were promised in the coalition agreement, but now they look under threat.

18 May 1997

Police chiefs are calling a top-level summit to ask why police officers are leaving the force in droves.

19 May 1997

State Owned Enterprises Minister Jenny Shipley says that she and Bill Birch are "looking closely" at the sale of SOEs and airports which are not listed as strategic assets in the coalition agreement.

The WISE (Women into Self Employment) Women Network has launched its internet Website, aimed at helping self-employed women keep in touch with each other. It can be found at

http://www.wisewomen.org.nz/

20 May 1997

Treasurer Winston Peters says there has been no blowout in government spending, but after the Budget there will be more cost-cutting in government departments.

The cabinet is preparing to sign an international OECD agreement liberalising foreign investment rules which would put foreign companies on the same footing as local companies when it comes to investing in NZ, and will prevent future governments from tightening the rules. The agreement has not been debated by either the NZ First or National caucuses. Alliance leader Jim Anderton says the agreement is a "recipe for open-slather foreign investment in NZ ..."

21 May 1997

Meat companies and the ACC are working out a scheme to get former meatworkers off long-term compensation and back to work. The scheme, called "industry self management" allows the meat industry to take over and manage some of for functions of ACC, and slash the industry's $60m ACC bill.

Insolvency laws may be amended to force students declared bankrupt to pay off student loans.

A draft report from the Ministry of Corrections suggests that inmates earn $5 a day (up from the present 92c a day) when prisons are turned into productive factories.

The New Plymouth Fernz Corporation Fertiliser works will close down its manufacturing division with the loss of 45 jobs. New owners will shift production to the Hawkes Bay.

22 May 1997

The navy is down to one operational frigate, the Canterbury, and it cannot put the frigate Waikato to sea safely because of the shortage of technicians. The navy is also short of staff at the middle officer level.

Violence has broken out across Argentina as many vent their anger and frustration at high unemployment and a declining standard of living.

Italy's cabinet meets to discuss plans to reform the country's social security system. A three-year economic program will be announced next week. The government is attempting to reduce deficits, in part in order to qualify for the European common currency.

23 May 1997

There were 163,500 equivalent full-time students at tertiary institutions last year, compared with 126,000 in 1991.

Overall wages and salary rates were up 2.2% on the year to March.

24 May 1997

In the first part of a two-stage election process, French voters deliver a shock to conservative President Jacques Chirac by threatening to make him share power with a left-wing government. Chirac called the snap election in order to consolidate support for his presidency, which has five years to run.

The rent freeze has cost Housing NZ nearly $4m since the election. When the freeze is lifted on July 1st and Housing NZ returns to market rents, almost 13,000 tenants will face rent increases of up to 51%.

25 May 1997

The Reserve Bank produces a booklet entitled The impact of Monetary Policy on People in which it tries to dispel the idea that monetary policy aimed at containing inflation only serves the interests of business. The bank says that monetary policy, when focussed on price stability, is positive and beneficial for low-income earners and people on fixed incomes.

A district court judge has ordered Social Welfare director-general Margaret Bazley to personally guarantee that there is no place for a youth in a secure Social Welfare residence. The judge does not believe assertions made by her department.

26 May 1997

The Jobs Research Trust formally launches its NZ-based Jobs Research Website. It can be visited at

http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/

27 May 1997

French PM Alain Juppe resigns after a humiliating defeat at the ballot box. He says he accepts the blame for two years of austerity and record high unemployment. Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac addresses the country on television in a bid to shore up his centre-right coalition.

28 May 1997

Paul Harris of the Council of Trade Unions criticises the Reserve Bank for producing "tax-payer funded propaganda" in explaining its policies to low-income people. Harris says that high interest rates hit low income people because they had debt rather than savings, and the strong NZ currency caused by bank policies put jobs under threat and forced cuts in workers pay.

The New Zealand Herald reports that NZ is being steered towards a radical shakeup of the roading system under Transport Minister Jenny Shipley, which could bring road tolls, higher road user charges and petrol taxes, and lead to highways being turned into a state-owned enterprise.