What Rotorua sector leaders want from Labour after its landslide win

Now Labour has the ability to govern alone, its policies will start to be implemented.

With Labour gaining enough votes to govern alone, it should be only a matter of time before the party starts rolling out policies it promised during the election campaign. Zizi Sparks picks out a few policies from key sectors and looks at them through a local lens, talking to people in the sectors.

The Labour Party's election manifesto runs to 29 pages. In it are policies covering health, education, immigration, housing and more.

Now that the party has gained enough votes to govern alone, the policies are likely to come into play, or be in the pipeline. Here are a few key policies and what sector leaders think of them.

Health and housing

Labour's health and housing policies aim to ensure Kiwis have access to better healthcare and a "warm, dry, safe place to call home".

Aspects of the policies include: Increasing the number of state houses and requiring one-quarter of new public housing to meet universal design standards; expanding the Ministry of Health's Healthy Homes Initiative to improve the quality of housing to prevent childhood hospitalisations; and strengthening public and transitional housing to keep tackling homelessness.

Nik Gregg from Sustainability Options, a company that assesses housing performance to encourage sustainable living, said having a warm, dry, safe place to call home was "a great place to start" but he believed the dial for what was considered acceptable housing needed to shift.

"What we're living in is not acceptable, it's affecting our health, and it's contributing to hospitalisations."

He said the devil would be in the Labour policy detail. Gregg believed making something warm, dry and safe had to be "whole-of-home approach".

"If we look at the conversation around healthy-home standards, it addresses warmth in the lounge but that doesn't translate to the bedroom ... where our most vulnerable are sleeping.

"One of the key challenges facing us is overcrowding. We have people coming back from overseas, we don't have homes large enough, homes are too cold in the bedroom.

"Another challenge is homes where ownership is not clear ... Ownership of them is blurred because the original owner has passed away and that home has been passed on to tamariki and moko and there are a number of owners."

Gregg said achieving healthy homes was a journey, not something which could be done quickly. He said minimum standards also needed to be revisited.

"The minimum standard is the worst you're allowed to get away with.

"There does need to be minimum but there also needs to be a dial of understanding around the minimum is not good enough. We need to lift the bar."

Tiny Deane from Visions of a Helping Hand said he hoped homes could be built quickly.

"If they can build more state houses fast that's great.

Tiny Deane from Visions of a Helping Hand. Photo / File

"We need new builds to put people into."

Deane said he aimed to house people himself but that still relied on Government backing.

When asked whether the aspiration of giving every Kiwi a "warm, dry, safe place to call home" was achievable, Deane wasn't sure but said for the Rotorua, Tūrangi and Tokoroa regions: "I'm going to give it the best nudge I can."

Jobs and tourism

Jobs and tourism are more important than ever as the country recovers from Covid-19.

Some Labour policies affecting the sector include a promise to promote tourism as the country's borders progressively reopen and continuing to support domestic tourism.

Labour also promised to partner with regions to progress economic development through $200 million seed funding in the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund for strategic investments in projects or programmes that support the growth of new and innovative industries, deliver employment and further a region's economic development.

Destination Rotorua chief executive Andrew Wilson said that, while there would be no "magic fix" for the issues facing the tourism sector, the organisation would work on a package of solutions and was looking forward to working with the Government to deliver policies with a positive impact on the economy and community.

Destination Rotorua chief executive Andrew Wilson. Photo / File

"Our priority is to ensure the new Government keeps Rotorua top of mind when formulating policy and outcomes with particular emphasis on our key industries such as tourism, hospitality, forestry and agriculture.

"The work we lead through Whakahouhia te Whare Ohanga (Build Back Better) Steering and Sector Groups has ensured Rotorua is in a good position to take advantage of future opportunities, as yet to be announced by central government."

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the district had benefited from the Provincial Growth Fund and other funding and would continue to explore opportunities.

"We are keen to understand how our district could benefit from the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund, but ... I don't want to work through a regional lens for approval to pursue funding opportunities for Rotorua."

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File

Chadwick said tourism remained key to the economy and Government investment was "crucial to boost what we do locally to promote our destination".

Education

Labour's education policies are about equity and reform.

Some of the key points are to replace the decile system with an equity index, to expand the school lunch programme to include 200,000 students by 2021 and make mental health support available to all primary and intermediate age students.

Labour also promised to build new schools and classrooms for 100,000 students, upgrade about 180 schools in the next decade, and provide free access to apprenticeships and some trades training courses for the next two years.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh applauded the party for promising to make mental health support available to all primary and intermediate age students and for upgrading buildings "past their use-by date" but said funding devices was a "missed opportunity".

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh. Photo / File

"Secondary schools have been in a privileged position to have trained counsellors available. We are noticing students are dealing with a lot of trauma and it would have been helpful to have availability of counselling services," he said.

"Students are not going to learn if they are in an environment not conducive to learning. They need warm, dry classrooms."

When asked what Labour might have missed, Walsh suggested funding devices for children who didn't have them would have been welcomed.

"During Covid-19 that whole equity divide was made a lot more prominent.

"Kids weren't able to access the curriculum because they didn't have a device or internet access. That's a fundamental right of every child ... The Government should be investing in that."

Toi Ohomai's dean of primary industries trades and infrastructure Brian Dillon said the effects of free access to apprenticeships and some trades training courses had been generally positive, and the institute of technology had seen an increase in applications and enrolments for affected courses.

He estimated enrolments could be 20 to 30 per cent above normal for some courses such as in automotive, construction and road transport, but it was unclear whether people enrolled because they were already planning to do so or because of the new policy which came into effect in July.

He commended the Government's apprenticeship boost, which subsidises employers with apprentices.

Business

Among the policies affecting the business sector are increasing the minimum wage to $20 an hour next year, doubling sick leave entitlements from five to 10 days a year, and making Matariki a public holiday from 2022.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said that, since the election, some employers expressed the view Labour's clear majority was good as it took away some uncertainty.

He estimated the combined cost per year of changes to the minimum wage, sick leave and Matariki would be more than $500,000 for a local medium- to large-sized employer.

"Most seem to agree that the minimum wage is necessary, but the small gap between that and the unemployment benefit is reportedly leading to some employees choosing the unemployment option and leaving employment by choice."

Heard said employers tended to look after staff, doing things such as paying beyond statutory requirements for genuine illnesses.

"Most employers feel that a small number of bad employers are creating misperceptions, and driving blanket policy, which is often detrimental to the majority."