Michael Wood argues the case for the next Labour government
Venkat Raman
Auckland, July 29, 2023
Labour has always been a Party for the common people and their families, not just for a few at the top strata of society and the current government has brought New Zealanders safely out of the worst crisis in a hundred years, Mt Roskill MP Michael Wood has said.
“Labour is the only Party that understands the needs of the people and has supported them through the challenges of the times such as cost of living and really focuses on the core public services such as good healthcare, and good education. We have a leader in Chris Hipkins who knows how to deal with these problems,” he said.
Mr Wood was visiting Indian Newslink offices as a part of a routine visit of Ministers, Members of Parliament and businesspersons to address our audiences across the world.
Making the 54th Parliament
New Zealanders will go to polls on October 14, 2023 to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament. Two main parties, the incumbent Labour Party and the Opposition National Party are being challenged on the right by the increasingly popular ACT Party and on the left by the Green Party and the Maori Party. New Zealand First, which is projected as a Centrist and moderate Party against unequal privileges for particular communities, has announced that it will not support the Labour Party, with which it has formed a coalition government twice (2002 and 2005).
It is expected to favour the National Party, with which it formed a coalition government in 1996.
Mr Wood said that his government has taken the country through the tragedy of the March 15 terrorist attack, Covid-19 and other social and economic challenges.
“We know how to support families through difficult times. All the progress that has been achieved will be gone if the National Party becomes the government, and all the investment that we have made in public services will be gone under a National-ACT coalition government,” he said.
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Improving Public Services
Mr Wood agreed that the New Zealanders are reeling under a Cost-of-Living crisis but attributed it to global events such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“People understand that this crisis is not peculiar to New Zealand but want to know the plans of the Labour government and how we can solve the issues and make life better for them. We are the only country in the developed world where incomes have risen to outpace inflation. We have made good progress as a country and we have the lowest unemployment rate in the world. But we are not resting on these achievements,” he said.
Mr Wood said that his government has taken several measures to lessen the burden of rising prices and cited the removal of the prescription charge of $5 from July 1, 2023 (those under 13 years of age were already exempt) as one such measure.
“We are continuing to invest heavily in the health sector. Every hospital in the country is undergoing an expansion programme with buildings and other facilities being built. We are also in the process of bringing qualified professionals to manage these resources,” he said.
Mr Wood accused the National Party of neglecting the health sector during its nine-year term (from 2008 to 2017).
“They have only been speaking about tax cuts but not about investing in services. We have struggled to find enough people working in the system. This is an international problem. You cannot improve if you underfund the system,” he said.
The Immigration Challenge
According to Mr Wood, the Labour government has outperformed the preceding National government in a number of areas, with Immigration being a major example. He said that there have been vast improvements in the workforce and that his government has ensured that migrant workers are treated with dignity and respect.
“We have made significant improvements in the immigration system. Migrant workers and those with valid visas have been given a pathway to progress and residence in our country.
We see vast improvements in the workforce. We have opened the borders and improved the immigration procedures. We have to make sure that migrant workers who come here are properly looked after and that they have a pathway to progress and residence in this country. We have to treat them well and make sure that they are happy. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has ranked New Zealand as the Number One Country for attracting skilled workers,” he said.
Mr Wood acknowledged the large number of New Zealanders migrating to Australia and other countries but did not believe that it indicated anything significant.
“Migration of people out of the country is not a new thing. If you go back 30 years, you will find the same trend that happened then. Some people go for overseas experience; some people go because Australia is a huge country and some people go because of better job opportunities and higher pay in some sectors. I believe that outward migration is cyclical,” he said.
Figures obtained from Statistics New Zealand corroborated Mr Wood’s statement.
The number of people who arrived in New Zealand as migrants for the period covering March 2022 and March 2023 was 161,900 (up by 199%) compared to the previous year, while migrant departures were 96,500 (up by 31%), compared to a net loss of 19,300.
The 161,900 migrant arrivals for the March 2023 year is above the long-term average of 119,000 for March years (pre-Covid 2002–2019). The 96,500 migrant departures for the March 2023 year are marginally above the long-term average of 91,500 for March years (pre-Covid 2002–2019).
The provisional net migration gain of 65,400 in the year ended March 2023 was made up of a net loss of 23,500 New Zealand citizens, which was more than offset by a net gain of 88,900 non-New Zealand citizens.
“The outflow now is a little more than what it was between 2014 and 2019. But there is a strong uptake in the number of people who want to come to New Zealand. It is also because the borders were closed for three years and hence more people are going away now. Some people come back after gaining experience, while some people get married and settled down overseas,” Mr Wood said.
Law and Order
Mr Wood is aware of the anger and anguish of the Indian community which dominates the retail sector, which is currently experiencing rising crime, violent attacks and ramraids.
He said that the safety or the lack of it in the retail sector is a serious issue.
“The Police say that there is a wave of crime at times. When I was campaigning in 2016 (for the by-election caused by the resignation of Phil Goff) in Mt Roskill, there was s similar wave. We have recently put in place several measures to break the cycle. Laws have been tightened to punish parents who are responsible for the aggressive behaviour of 12 and 13-year-old people. Judges now can film these and put them on social media. Judges also can try 12 and 13-year-old offenders to be tried in a court of law. While overall crime has been declining over the past 30 years, the incidence of retail crime has undoubtedly increased. Our government is focusing on taking proper action to bring down these offences,” Mr Wood said.
But politicians across all Parties must face hard questions on crime, he said.
“Why is crime increasing?”
“What are the things that you will do to bring down crime?
“Is tougher punishment the only answer? Can you show us the evidence of crime coming down because of tougher laws?
“Do we seriously want the young offenders to be locked away for good or should we have programmes to rehabilitate them back into society?
“Can all of us approach the problems jointly and talk with the families of the young offenders, hold them to account and make them understand the feelings of victims of their crime?
“These young offenders come from broken families, families that are addicted to drugs and families in which parents do not take responsibility. We have several programmes in place to effectively address the problem. We want the affected families to address the issue, we want the young offenders to go through counselling and other programmes, and we want them to meet with the victims if the victims agree. We want to break the cycle. That is the way to bring about change. We have to make the young people understand and help them turn their lives around, not by pretending to be tough. That will not help anyone,” Mr Wood said.
Organised Crime and Gangs
Contrary to popular belief, Mr Wood said that his government has taken the right measures to tackle organised crime, gang wars and their rising menace and crime.
“Organised crime is no doubt an issue. There are several reasons for this including easy access to firearms and the return of criminals from Australia under Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act. But I cannot accept any accusation that we have not addressed the issue. We have been focusing on gangs. We have given more powers to the Police to go after the gangs. It is their bikes, their cash and their patches. We have taken action on all fronts to address this problem, including recruiting more than 1800 additional Police Officers and giving more powers to the Police,” he said.
Following the first visit of Chris Hipkins to Australia after taking charge as Prime Minister, the Anthony Albanese government has softened its controversial deportation policy, described by New Zealand as corrosive and by human rights groups as draconian and inhumane.
Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act was amended eight years ago by the former Liberal government. Under this Section, a person sent to jail for 12 months or longer can have their visa cancelled and deported to the country of their birth even if they have barely lived in that country.
More than 2500 people born in New Zealand have been deported back here, many without any family connections here.
Mr Wood is aware of the growing opposition to the Labour government and the criticisms that it has drawn on controversial issues such as Co-Governance, the Three Waters Reforms and Special Privileges to the Maori, all of which have been labelled as ‘divisive’ and ‘depressing’ not only by the opposition parties but also by common people, many of them staunch Labour supporters.
Mr Hipkins set a bonfire of some of these policies in a ‘Reform of Reforms.’
Even so, convincing voters to bring them back will be a tough task for the Labour Party.
“We recognise the challenges. It will be a tight election but we are confident that New Zealanders will understand that only a Labour government will genuinely look after the people,” Mr Wood said.
