Prime Minister Christopher Luxon asked Attorney-General Judith Collins to remind Cabinet members about the ERA's independence. Photo / Alex Burton
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon asked Attorney-General Judith Collins to remind Cabinet members about the ERA's independence. Photo / Alex Burton
Attorney-General Judith Collins warned Cabinet of the “need for careful use of language”, as directed by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, after Minister Brooke van Velden suggested Employment Relations Authority members believed “money grows on trees”.
Luxon, speaking to media today, confirmed he had asked Collins to remind Cabinet membersof the ERA’s independence following van Velden’s comments to BusinessDesk criticising a lack of private sector experience in the authority’s membership.
Critics, including the Public Service Association, say van Velden’s remarks compromise the independence judicial bodies required from the executive, given van Velden had the ability to appoint new members.
“Look, the minister [van Velden] understands that she and the ministers need to respect the independence of the Employment Relations Authority,” Luxon said this morning.
“The Attorney-General has discussed that with her personally, and I also asked the Attorney-General to make that point very clear to all ministers in Cabinet as well.”
Asked if he believed ERA members had solely public sector experience, Luxon described members as “highly qualified, highly skilled and total professionals” who were “quite capable of acting independently and adjudicating on those cases”.
Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden made the comments to BusinessDesk. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Collins confirmed she had raised the issue during a Cabinet meeting in a recent letter to the Public Service Association (PSA).
“Although authority members are not judges, part of their role is to determine issues of law, and I consider that the values of political neutrality and independence apply similarly to authority members. I have spoken to Minister Van Velden and to Cabinet, and we are in agreement,” Collins said.
“I have explained the need for careful use of language when speaking of the judiciary or – in this case – tribunal member appointments, to avoid the perception of any politicisation of the judiciary.
“Parties before the Employment Relations Authority must be confident that the authority member will determine the dispute before them according to the law, without regard to any future reappointment.”
Collins wrote she intended to share her letter with the ERA chairperson and the Chief Judge of the Employment Court, so it could be shared with the new authority members.
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons believed van Velden’s comments were a “serious assault on the independence of the Employment Relations Authority”.
She raised concerns of a “double standard”, citing van Velden’s Employment Relations Act reforms that Fitzsimons believed would make it easier for workers facing disciplinary action to be fired.
“[T]he Prime Minister needs to take action against the minister.”
A spokesperson for Van Velden said in a statement they were not aware of the Law Society’s letter and would not discuss “confidential” Cabinet matters. has been approached for comment.
“The make-up of the members in the Employment Relations Authority [ERA] is important in that the membership should better reflect New Zealand’s workforce,” the statement read.
“The overall aim is to create a more balanced ERA that better understands the practical realities facing all public and private employers.”
A spokesperson for Collins said she was unavailable to comment.
Collins was also contacted on August 29 by New Zealand Law Society president Frazer Barton, who was concerned van Velden’s remarks could influence ERA members to “make determinations that are more favourable to employers [for example, by making smaller awards against businesses], regardless of the facts of each case”.
“Even if the minister’s comments do not ultimately influence determinations made by authority members [and we anticipate this is likely to be the case], her comments create the perception that she is attempting to influence the outcomes of authority proceedings.”
He warned this would risk “blurring the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, and weakening the rule of law”.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
