Bill English warns of downturn in job growth in State of Nation speech

National leader Bill English during his State of the Nation speech in Wellington yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opposition leader Bill English used his State of the Nation speech to warn of job losses under the Government's employment law changes and to promise to hold the Government to account against the benchmark of a strong economy.

He launched a campaign, Protect New Zealand Jobs, to fight the Government's reforms in employment law, which were introduced to Parliament this week in the hope of strengthening collective bargaining and lifting wages.

He called the reforms a "labour-market experiment" that will hit the job market and give too much power to unions.

"In the last two years New Zealand has created 245,000 new jobs – more than 10,000 a month. And family incomes have risen ... There is no reason why this shouldn't continue."

He said the Government's plan for industry-wide Fair Pay Agreements was out of step with the "flexibility, agility, resilience and re-skilling" that a modern job market demands.​

"An employer cannot refuse to be part of an industry agreement – it will be bound by a collective agreement setting minimum standards for wages, allowances, hours of work and leave arrangements for an entire industry."

The Government has said the framework for the agreements will be worked on over the next 12 months, in consultation with unions and business groups. But it has promised that industry-wide strikes will not be permitted and sign-up to agreements will be up to those in the industry, not imposed by the Government.

A major theme of English's speech was the strong economic position of about 3.5 per cent growth per year for the last five years, adding that he will hold the current Government to that high standard.

The Government could "muddle along for some time", but the economy needed specific attention, not a mantra of "trees, trains, and trade unions".

English added that the Government's child poverty reduction legislation had no substance, and again criticised the Government for abandoning National's Better Public Services targets, which he said provided a strategy to reduce poverty.

"Dealing with the 30 people in one suburb with over 1000 convictions, finding those who have been on benefit for years because of under-treated illness, dealing one by one with teenage mums to get them into education and off a benefit - Labour has chosen to throw away the tools to attack this part of poverty."

​Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the speech was "sad".

"It was a tired speech from an obviously tired leader. It was looking backwards, rather than looking forwards.

"It seemed to be that Bill English was still trying to fight the election."

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters alluded to speculation about National's leadership team from that morning, saying English's speech was "trying to be relevant, but the knives are out now".