David
PARKER
Spokesperson for Finance

11 December 2012 MEDIA STATEMENT
No mention of Solid Energy or Spring Creek in resource report

The Government’s Building Resources report makes no mention of the Spring Creek miners who lost their jobs or the decline of the state mining company Solid Energy, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

“Steven Joyce has released another of his Business Growth Agenda glossies, and this one is even more meaningless than the others, with no tangible new initiatives announced.

“But this report has done more than the first four – it reveals the true colours of this Government. One that doesn’t care about the loss of jobs in Huntly and across the West Coast and is determined to send its state-owned mining company into decline.

“How Steven Joyce can release a report into energy and resources without mentioning the loss of hundreds of jobs across the country is beyond me.

“Steven Joyce has spent months telling New Zealanders that oil drilling will lead us to economic nirvana. The revelation that only 13 of the 23 exploration blocks received bids, while Petrobras withdrew from New Zealand last week, makes a mockery of that claim. While important, oil exploration is not the economic cure-all this Government thinks it is.

“Steven Joyce’s contempt for green growth is a matter of public record. Today’s response to the Government-sponsored Greening New Zealand’s Growth report is weak and reinforces Mr Joyce’s lack of interest in green growth. It stands in stark contrast to the Pure Advantage report that outlines the future for green growth and jobs in New Zealand.

“Today’s report is yet more proof that this Government has too few ideas for growing the New Zealand economy. As a consequence unemployment is over 7%, 170,000 Kiwis have left for Australia and the only growth is in Canterbury, due to tragic circumstances, not Government initiatives.”

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>