CTU media release

14 July 2010

The Council of Trade Unions is supporting Clare Curran’s Kiwi Jobs Bill. CTU Secretary Peter Conway said that the Bill is a modest start which we would hope leads to a government procurement policy that promotes New Zealand industry and jobs.

“It is good to see the Labour Party raising this issue and we look forward to a robust Select Committee process if the Bill is drawn,” said Conway.

“The CTU has met with KiwiRail and relevant Ministers to push for as much New Zealand content as possible in the forthcoming tender for Auckland electric multiple train units.”

“If we are to catch up with Australia, we have to start adopting some of the smarter Australian policies. That includes a positive procurement policy that backs New Zealand workers and firms. That means major government purchases should include a local industry participation plan backed up by a weighting or minimum domestic content provision.”

“It’s a no-brainer that the power of central and local government purchasing should be helping Kiwi jobs and industry grow. The current central government policy is obsessed with a narrow view of ‘value for money’ which just means cost-cutting and too often means only imported products and services provided by multinationals get the contracts. Real value for money for New Zealand could be obtained by helping growing New Zealand firms to get a market for their goods and services. That provides jobs and gives those industries a strong basis to grow and export.”