Letter No.151
20 August, 2001

30 July 2001

Student fees are likely to rise by 30% to 50% according to a member of the Tertiary Education Advisory Board. Jonathan Boston says he sees little option for universities other than to raise student course fees unless government makes a substantial increase in the level of real funding per student.

31 July 2001

Private sector wages have risen 3.5% in NZ over the past year, the highest in three years. The TMP Worldwide salary and employment survey says that 93% of companies are preparing for further labour cost rises over the next year.

1 August 2001

Some 350 new teaching positions will be funded next year. The Post Primary Teachers' Association says the number falls short of the acknowledged need of 1,850 extra teachers over the next three years. The PPTA says the new allocation to its members will add one half of a teaching position per school.

Pipfruit exporter Enza will cut about 30 jobs as it downsizes and shifts its offices from Wellington to Hastings.

The Knowledge Wave, a three-day conference of local and international speakers, begins. The conference will hear the perspectives of different groups and sectors on ways to stimulate NZ economic and social growth. The conference is being co-hosted by the government and Auckland University and all speakers are being televised live on Sky TV.

2 August 2001

Employment Court judge Tom Goddard rules that former Winz CEO Christine Rankin did not prove that State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham failed her as his employee nor had he not done enough to inform her about concerns about her performance. Rankin was awarded no compensation.

More than 120 jobs in Melbourne are lost as Unilever shifts its Lipton tea packing plant to Indonesia.

6 August 2001

The nearly 50 staff at Tauranga swimwear manufacturer Expozay are told their jobs will disappear as the company is sold. The manufacturing arm of the company is expected to shift overseas.

7 August 2001

NZ universities and polytechnics seem likely to accept a funding offer by government that will see student fees frozen for another year. The offer is for a 2.6% increase in government funding plus a $35 million one-off payment to assist them in adapting to major government reforms that are expected to be recommended by the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission, next year.

9 August 2001

Statistics NZ releases its Quarterly Employment Survey. At 5.2%, unemployment is at a 13 year low. See feature in this issue.

Job advertisements were at a record high in July. The ANZ survey says job ads rose 2.2% over the previous month and were up 7.8% on July last year.

The NZ Air Force will make 296 people redundant this year as it dismantles the air combat force. A further 400 air force jobs will be disappear over the next four years.

A national shortage of 2,000 nurses is beginning to cause the cancellation of some scheduled elective surgery in public hospitals.

Australia lists a sharp decline in full-time job numbers.

14 August 2001

The new chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development is to be Peter Hughes, the current chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs. Peter Hughes began his public service career as a benefit clerk at the Department of Social Welfare in 1981. Hughes will begin work at MSD on 1 October.