PM's Post-Cabinet Press Conference 3/09/18 Nauru/Living wage

Monday, 3 September 2018, 4:36 pm
Article: Joseph Cederwall

Prime Minister’s Post Cabinet Press Conference. 3 September 2018

Watch Live Stream here:

Pacific Islands Forum

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she will be travelling to the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister discussed that she will be raising the issue of asylum seekers on Nauru.

The Prime Minister also discussed that since her Baby Neve was unable to travel to Nauru due to immunization issues, she opted to fly separately. The Prime Minister stated that she weighed the decision carefully and took advice from various Crown agencies.

Her decision was influenced by the fact that she places importance on New Zealand’s relationship with other Pacific Islands nations so she felt that she needed to go.

It was also influenced by feedback that the extra costs of flying separately were minimal because the plane would need to leave Nauru anyway.

Living Wage

Changes made recently having positive flow on effects

Prime Minister Ardern announced today that as of Sept 1st 2018, all core Public sector workers will receive the living wage pay rate of $20.55 per hour.

164,000 workers will also benefit from the higher Minimum wage introduced by the Government this year and Working For Families.

General Questions

Questions from the Press included:

Further discussion of the additional cost of the PM flying separately to Nauru. The PM stated that she weighed it carefully and decided that the Considerable number of topical issues currently on the agenda outweighed any additional costs and that it is a unique set of circumstances.

On the Meka Whaitiri investigation, the PM stated that she is not pre-empting the investigation that is underway.

On Racing reform, Ardern stated that no decisions have been made yet, so she is not pre-empting outcomes of the review.

On the Bali travel insurance case, the PM stated that the Government simply cannot help out every person who gets in trouble traveling without adequate Insurance.

On whether the policy of doubling the Refugee Quota is still Government policy. The Prime Minister responded that they remain committed to this and are resourcing for this level, however it still needs to go through Cabinet.

On Myanmar, and the Roghingyar crisis.

On the appointment of Steve Maharey as Chair of the Board of Pharmac.

On the Business Advisory Council appointments process.

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Joseph Cederwall

Freelance Writer

Joseph is Co-editor of Scoop and Editor of The Dig. Joseph is an editor, writer, and social entrepreneur with an interest in open and participatory media and business models. In 2019, Joseph founded The Dig. Joseph has qualifications in law and anthropology and previously practiced as a lawyer in the Immigration and Human Rights field. He is now applying this background to the practice of ‘reverse anthropology' using a framing of indigenous worldviews to deconstruct the dominant worldviews and cultural myths of Western society. Joseph has a longstanding interest in the commons, participatory democracy, social justice, and human rights. He was a co-founder, and founding Director of ActionStation Aotearoa - now NZ's largest online movement-building organisation. Joseph is also a Director of Freerange Publishing Cooperative, and a long-time contributor to Enspiral - a non-hierarchical collective of freelancers and ventures dedicated to collaborative business practice and purpose-driven enterprise. He lives in beautiful Taranaki and enjoys watersports, permaculture, tai chi, music, and being in nature.

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