Policy | Livelihoods Policy Statement

The wellbeing of individuals and whānau depends on a decent and secure livelihood so people can live in dignity. Some workers are not well supported at work and do not receive an adequate living wage for their work. Unemployment is on the rise again, and Maori unemployment continues to be nearly three times that of non-Māori. Youth are particularly affected by unemployment. Maori resources are not used to benefit Maori small businesses or workers; the trickle-down approach of Treaty settlements has not worked.

The crises of climate change, peak oil, and food security mean that we have to prepare now for the post-carbon (post-oil) world by recovering traditional approaches to sustainable liverlihoods and discovering new strategies. To maintain current jobs and create new, better quality jobs, especially for young people, means investing in and developing new, sustainable economic development and employment initiatives.

Mana Party policy priorities are to:

  • Pursue measures to provide full employment. (With full employment the dole would not be needed)
  • Immediately increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour (1 April 2012) and peg it at two-thirds of the average wage (1 April 2013). We oppose the call to reintroduce a lower minimum wage for youth. 
  • Ensure no-one leaves school without moving to employment or training.
  • Develop an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable economic development programme with national and regional development strategies.
  • Support changes to employment relations laws that give workers greater bargaining power to negotiate wages and conditions with their employers, and oppose changes that reduce the bargaining power of workers and unions.  
  • Introduce a requirement for all State-Owned Enterprises and Māori corporate entities to prioritise the employment of New Zealand residents or face significant financial penalties. 
  • Incentivise the processing of New Zealand resources in New Zealand so the value-added component benefits the country. 
  • Introduce a scheme to create new community service jobs for those currently unemployed. This would involve real work on real wages in schools, hospitals, retirement villages, kuia/koroua flats, and community organisations. Adult literacy and numeracy learning would be provided where required. 
  • Increase government investment in papakainga and other community housing construction projects in areas where there are shortages of low cost rental housing, significantly boosting employment in the construction industry. (Investment in environmentally sustainable housing is of particular interest as it is more labour-intensive, having the potential to create greater levels of employment)
  • Support the creation of quality apprenticeship schemes that can train young people in trades training, without the burden of high tertiary education fees.