Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Parties blast 50c wage increase

By by Sam Boyer
Bay of Plenty Times·
8 Feb, 2012 09:11 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Government will increase the minimum wage by 50 cents - but many critics in and out of Parliament are describing the increase as an insult.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson yesterday announced the April 1 change, which raises the minimum wage from $13 to $13.50 an hour.

The training and new entrants' minimum wages will also increase from $10.40 to $10.80, or 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.

"Those working full-time on the minimum wage will earn an extra $20 a week or more than $1000 a year," Ms Wilkinson said.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason said he considered the increase reasonable in the economic climate.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The minimum wage rise of 50 cents equates to a 3.9 per cent increase in wages.

"Most employers would consider this reasonable bearing in mind the December 2011 inflation rate was 1.8 per cent.

"There will be many employees in Tauranga this year that will not get anything like that, given the tightness of many sectors in the economy," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But New Zealand First leader Winston Peters was one of many voices yesterday to register his discontent at the wage increase, saying it should have been raised to at least $15 an hour.

He said the Government had failed its voters with the 50-cent increase, which amounted to "an insulting pittance".

"This is the Government that gave huge tax cuts to its rich mates. New Zealanders who believe in a fair go know this Government has one set of privileges for the rich while the poor slide further into poverty," Mr Peters said.

The parties that make up the Government should be ashamed, he said, and singled out the Maori Party for special criticism.

"Everybody knows that National has a callous disregard for workers but the Maori Party claims to stick up for Maori people on low incomes. The reality is the gap between rich and poor is growing all the time and the Maori Party is just as guilty as National," he said.

But the Maori Party, too, has condemned the rise, saying the policy lacks political courage.

"The Maori Party supports a minimum wage of $16 per hour, as a way to meet the needs of low-income workers. Those workers often referred to as the 'working poor'," party co-leader Tariana Turia said.

Peter Conway, secretary of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, said that while any increase was welcomed, it fell short of the $15 minimum wage proposed by the Labour Party in the build-up to last year's election, a figure he said had widespread public support, and would not significantly address concerns regarding poverty or inequality.

"This minimal increase to the minimum wage will not help low-income households who were hit hard by the increase in GST and [were] not compensated adequately by tax cuts that favoured those on higher incomes. The government has missed a chance to help re-balance this equation and put more money in the pockets of low income families," he said.

"Measures of living standards show that many New Zealanders experience hardship on a daily basis ... this small increase to the minimum wage will not help these groups of New Zealanders in any meaningful way," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin
live

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP