Wednesday, December 18, 2019



The one thing the government is delivering on

Last year the government gave us the biggest ever increase in the minimum wage, from $15.50 to $17.70 an hour. This year, they're doing it again:

New Zealand's minimum wage will rise to $18.90 an hour from April 1, the Government has confirmed.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said it would mean a quarter of a million workers were better off next year.

"The new $18.90 rate will mean an extra $48 per week before tax for Kiwis who work for 40 hours on the current minimum wage," he said.


Which means they're on track for another increase to $20 an hour in April 2021, as promised in their confidence and supply agreement with the Greens. Which will mean that they will have increased the minimum wage by 20% in their first term - which should deliver a significant benefit to workers, both directly for those on the minimum wage, and indirectly by ratcheting up other wages in response.

This is the one thing the government is delivering on. They've failed on child poverty, on KiwiBuild, and on climate change; on banning mining on conservation land, on public media, and on transparency. But they've succeeded on this. Its something, but its nowhere near enough.