John Armstrong: New leader out to dismantle economic handicap

Andrew Little's speech is notable for not attacking National, writes Armstrong. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Andrew Little is not setting up his Future of Work Commission for it to be just to be another worthy but dull talkfest.

Its real purpose is to slowly chip away at National's occupation of the high ground of economic policy.

Labour has long been handicapped by majority public opinion citing National as the major party best handed the task of running the economy. The commission - announced by Little yesterday in his first major speech since becoming Labour's leader two weeks ago - is clearly being set up to shift the debate on the economy away from being overly focused on a few economic indicators that measure National's success to tackling deep-seated problems that National stands accused of ignoring.

Little's argument is that despite the economy at last growing again, increasing numbers of people are worried about job security and finding it increasingly difficult to get ahead. This trend is only likely to intensify as rapid technological and other changes result in people facing multiple changes in jobs over their working lives including periods of no paid work.

Little's speech is notable for not attacking National. He even goes as far as saying the current Government is not solely to blame for this "new era of squeeze and insecurity". He says Labour is focused on solutions - "not sitting on the sidelines complaining".

What he says has happened is that the underlying structures of the economy have changed, but policies have not changed to keep up.

Little says his own party also has to play catch up; that being the "party of the working people" does not mean representing only those who work from 9am to 5pm or who do shift work on an hourly rate.

Little clearly sees the commission, which will be chaired by Labour's new finance spokesman, Grant Robertson, as a means of Labour being seen to reach out to one-person businesses, those who now work on contract and others no longer in traditional employment arrangements.

But the commission - which will have a two-year lifespan and travel the country conducting seminars and workshops - is a vehicle by which Labour can more generally renew contact and communication with the hundreds of thousands of voters who have deserted the party at recent general elections.

The commission's work will also have a major bearing on the kinds of policies Labour will take into the 2017 election. Crucially, it will enable the party to say it has listened to the people first - rather than repeating the mistake made in this year's election of imposing policies on voters that they do not like but which Labour believes is good for them.