Category: transport

Labour’s Peeni Henare will pick up the foreign affairs portfolio, following David Parker’s departure from Parliament.

He retains his other portfolios of defence, economic development, Māori-Crown relations: Te Arawhiti and associate health.

Lawyer and human rights advocate Vanushi Walters returns to Parliament this week and will pick up shadow Attorney-General and associate foreign affairs.

“I am delighted to have Vanushi Walters returning to Parliament,” Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said.

“She, Peeni Henare and Phil Twyford will make a formidable team in the important portfolio of foreign affairs.

“New Zealand has a proud history of independent foreign policy, but Christopher Luxon’s Government is not standing up for New Zealand in a more and more divisive and unstable world.

“My expectations of this team will be to ensure we are ready to step back into Government in 2026. That we have clear, principled positions that make sense to New Zealanders.   

“David Parker provided a fantastic platform for Labour to build on in this space. His experience and passion will be missed, and I wish him all the best as he embarks on life after politics,” Chris Hipkins said.

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Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay.

“This Government is better at crushing the rights of working women than crushing cars,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

“Putting out a press release talking about boy racers on Mother’s Day isn’t fooling anyone. New Zealanders value their mums and think they should be paid fairly. The debacle over women’s pay this week isn’t going away.

“So instead of addressing pay equity, they’ve announced tweaks to laws around boy racers, including making it easier to crush cars which didn’t work last time they were in Government. Slightly increasing fines also hasn’t historically changed behaviour in the long-term.

“This Government is yet again putting more work on frontline police without more resources. They’re failing to meet their 500 police promise and are more focused on confiscating gang patches than tackling meth.

“Reheating old policies won’t make our communities safer. They’re failing to address the nub of what is causing crime, while attempting the ultimate distraction.

“Get proper policies and pay women what they’re worth,” Ginny Andersen said.

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Labour is asking the Government why it is silent on Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, saying New Zealand should be speaking out.

“We haven’t heard a peep out of the Government while Israel’s blockade causes starvation and their military kills civilians,” Labour associate foreign affairs spokesperson Phil Twyford said.

“Israel has killed more than 52,000 people in its 19-month assault on Gaza, and a two-month aid blockade has caused widespread hunger and a breakdown of law and order, as people become more and more desperate to feed their families.

“New Zealand used to be known as a country of principle, with a strong commitment to international law. But the silence from the Beehive on Israel’s relentless assault on Gaza calls that into question.

“New Zealand and our likeminded friends around the world must stand up for the things we value: human rights, justice, and international law. All of these values are being flouted in Gaza by Israel’s brutal and vicious war which seems designed to drive Palestinians out of Gaza,” Phil Twyford said.

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Survivors of abuse in state care have a right to feel disappointed and sidelined by the Government.

“The Royal Commission was very clear, survivors needed to be involved in designing and implementing a new, independent system for redress. The Government has completely ignored that,” Labour Leader Chirs Hipkins said.

“Putting more money into an existing redress system that so many of the survivors have already said they have no confidence in just isn’t good enough.

“We offered to take politics off the table and work with the Government to make sure we lived up to the words in our formal apologies last year. The Government chose not to take up this offer.

“I want to be clear the Labour Party has not been involved in today’s announcement. We think it misses the mark and fails to live up to the Prime Minister’s lofty talk in the formal apology he delivered last year.

“The Government promised not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Today’s announcement shows those were hollow words,” Chris Hipkins said.

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Labour is launching a members’ bill to stop the Government from putting tobacco industry interests ahead of public health.

“The Tobacco Transparency Bill will strengthen the law surrounding tobacco industry lobbying, to ensure tobacco profits are never put ahead of New Zealander’s health,” Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said.

“This Bill aims to prohibit government support for the tobacco industry and requires transparency around tobacco lobbying.

“Around the world, tobacco companies have a long history of influencing and weakening health policies to better suit their bottom line.

“This Bill will address those influences, and help us protect people’s health by meeting the obligations we’ve signed up to under the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

“One of those obligations is to protect tobacco policy from ‘commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry’.

“New Zealand’s 2025 smokefree goal is at risk and we need to be doing everything we can to meet it, to save lives, and keep people healthy and out of hospital.

“Our world-leading smokefree laws were scrapped by the National Government and smoking rates in New Zealand have risen for the first time in over a decade.

“It’s time we get rid of the smokescreen and protect Kiwis from big tobacco’s lobbying tactics – they have no place in health policy,” Ayesha Verrall said.

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The Labour Party backs volunteer firefighters who are currently not covered by ACC for workplace disease and mental injury and is drafting policy to put this right when the party wins the election in 2026.

“Volunteer firefighters make up 86 percent of the Fire and Emergency frontline workforce, however they are not eligible for the same ACC coverage as paid firefighters as the law currently stands. This needs to change,” Labour ACC spokesperson Camilla Belich said. 

“We cannot have majority of our firefighters, who put their lives on the line to save others, with inadequate support.

“Just as their paid counterparts, volunteer firefighters are exposed to many traumatic incidents, which can result in mental illnesses such as PTSD. Their work also exposes them to a range of gradual workplace illnesses.

“I accepted a petition today signed by more than 35,000 people who share the view that legislation should be changed to allow for volunteer firefighters to access ACC.

“People who put their lives at risk for others should have support if they are injured or ill as a result of their service,” Camilla Belich said.

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National has forced through a law change that will take money out of women’s pockets.

“I hope every National MP takes a good, hard look at themselves tonight,” Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.

“This dreadful process, rushing legislation through under urgency with no consultation, will result in women being paid less and that is a travesty.

“This Government is taking women backwards just so they can make their Budget add up. It is women who are paying for their billions in tax breaks for landlords and tobacco companies.

“But I am so proud of our Labour team, who have stood up for women all over the country and fought this at every point. The work does not stop here,” Jan Tinetti said.

“What this week has shown is Labour is the party that will stand up for women’s pay and women’s wages, while National tears them down,” Labour women’s spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said.

“National MPs will now need to front up to their communities about why they think women should be paid less than men. We will not let them forget it,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

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In the last 12 months life has only got worse for Māori under Christopher Luxon’s Government.

Earlier this year Māori unemployment was a staggering 8.9 percent. It has now gone up to 10.5 percent in the latest figures today – that’s 7000 more Māori unemployed.

“The Government simply doesn’t care about workers and certainly doesn’t care about Māori,” Labour spokesperson for Social Development and Māori Development, Willie Jackson said.

“Māori are tired of been kicked in the guts by this Government, we have had enough. Now wāhine Māori are bearing the brunt of the Government’s changes too, as claims for pay equity are shoved aside.

“These figures are unacceptable and are made worse by the deliberate choices to make life harder for Māori.

“Louise Upston and Tama Potaka have failed miserably to address Māori employment rates.

“I have no faith that this government will be able to deliver anything meaningful for Māori other than more cuts to Māori initiatives to prop up their tobacco and property developer mates,” Willie Jackson said.

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There are more Pacific people unemployed as the rate increases to a staggering 10.8% under National.

“The lack of any action from the Government to bring down unemployment for hard-working Pacific people is shameful,” Pacific peoples spokeswoman Carmel Sepuloni said.

“It’s disheartening to see more Pacific people unemployed as the Government chooses to cut public service jobs and scrap housing and infrastructure projects, while giving billions to landlords and the tobacco lobby.

“We have thousands fewer roles in construction, agriculture, forestry and fishing – industries where many Pacific people are employed.

“This also comes as the Government takes more money out of Pacific women’s pockets and looks to remove the living wage for workers in cleaning, catering, and security services, dealing a huge blow to the many Pacific workers in those jobs.

“Nicola Willis’ slash-and-burn Budget is promising even more pain for communities. Pacific people deserve so much more than the hogwash they’ve gotten so far from National.

“We want our Pacific people to be in secure, well-paying jobs and we will continue bringing their voices to the forefront to challenge a Government which has thus far ignored them,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

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Job losses remain stubbornly high under National, as their attack on jobs, wages, and women rages on.

“This is the cost of a Government that governs by cuts: more Kiwis out of work and leaving for Australia, crumbling hospitals, and a shortage of affordable housing,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

“They’ve also completely abandoned women’s equality with their shameful move to scrap pay equity claims. Women still have more than double the rate of underemployment as men. National has betrayed women on both fronts: jobs and wages.

“These weak workforce numbers are the result of Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon’s disastrous choices. They chose to scrap housing and infrastructure projects that our communities rely on. They chose to lay off thousands of public servants. They chose to weaken worker protections and cancel pay equity claims.

“In the March 2025 quarter, 45,000 fewer New Zealanders were employed full-time, compared with the March 2024 quarter. We continue to lose thousands of construction jobs. Women’s unemployment also remains higher than the national average at 5.3%.

“And as if high unemployment isn’t bad enough, Nicola Willis’ slash-and-burn Budget next week promises even more pain for Kiwis.

“They’ve refused to rule out cuts to KiwiSaver and Best Start and they’re scrapping pay equity claims, all to fund tax cuts for landlords and handouts for tobacco companies. It’s outrageous that in their crusade for Budget surplus they’re taking it from women, families, and retirees.

“Labour believes in rebuilding an economy that works for everyone, with well-paying jobs, quality healthcare, and affordable housing. We are fighting for equal pay and stronger protection for workers,” Barbara Edmonds said.

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