Who is promising what
The three Labour leadership contenders are making so many promises, that I’ve done this little table below for easy reference. Please, please let me know (e-mail preferably) if there are any pledges I have missed. I will keep updating this.
| Cunliffe | Jones | Robertson | |
| Raise taxes on rich pricks | Yes | Yes | |
| Living wage for all Govt staff and contractors | Yes | Yes | |
| Minimum wage $15/hr | Yes | Yes | |
| Full employment | Yes | Yes | |
| Living wage for all | Yes | ||
| Pacifica TV channel | Yes | Yes | |
| Regulate food prices | Yes | ||
| A home for everyone | Yes | ||
| Taxi drivers to earn more | Yes | ||
| Increase tax rate on trusts | Yes | ||
| Subsidies for tree planting | Yes | ||
| Repeal all of National’s employment changes | Yes | Yes | |
| Expand ban on house purchases to Australians | Yes | ||
| Extend Northern Rail Link to North Port | Yes | ||
| Extend Part 6A from vulnerable workers to all workers | Yes | ||
| 50% female quota for caucus | Yes | Yes | |
| Not block the “man ban” if party wants it | Yes | Yes | |
| Scrap Kapiti Expressway | Yes | ||
| Possibly buy back SOEs | Yes | ||
| Possibly keep Super age at 65, not 67 | Yes | ||
| Subsidies or “support” for wood processing | Yes | ||
| A second cable to the United States | Yes | ||
| Extend 2014 target for Treaty settlements to 2020 | Yes | ||
| Make Police Commissioner apologise to Tuhoe | Yes | ||
| National awards within 100 days of election | Yes |
Cunliffe’s pledge to extend Part 6A to all workers takes the prize for the most destructive policy.
Part 6A is the part which states that if a company wins a contract off another company, they have to employ all the staff of the other company.
At present this only applies to industries such as catering, cleaning, orderly and laundry. Cunliffe’s pledge would massively expand this.Say you work for a copy centre, and you lose a major contract to a competitor. The winning copy centre has to hire your staff!In theory it would apply to law firms also. Say a law firm loses a major client to another law firm. All the lawyers who worked for that client at the old firm, would have to be hired by the new firm!It would in fact destroy competition, mergers and acquisitions in New Zealand. It is bad enough we have Part 6A for some industries, but to apply it to all workers is indeed a great leap backwards. The unions though will love it. Getting 20% of the vote in the leadership contests has given them power beyond their wildest dreams.
UPDATE: Have added on Grant’s pledge to have taxpayers fund a second fibre cable to the United States.
UPDATE2: Cunliffe also promising a Pacifica TV channel
UPDATE3: Robertson on Te Karere said he wants Treaty settlement target shifted from 2014 to 2020 and the Police Commission to apologise to Tuhoe.
UPDATE4: Cunlife promised in a speech he would introduce national awards or “industry standard agreements” within 100 days of an election.