Tracey Martin MP
Spokesperson for Education
26 February 2013

School Staff Suffer in New Novopay Twist

New Zealand First believes the PPTA has been forced into a corner over the Novopay saga but says legal action will place more pressure on already stressed school staff.

Education spokesperson Tracey Martin says putting even more stress on school staff is not acceptable and the Government must end the Novopay nightmare.

“Teachers and other school staff have been put under tremendous pressure trying to cope with a pay system which has been nothing short of a disaster.

“Some staff don’t know if they’ll be able to pay their rent or mortgages. In other instances teachers fear debt collectors will come knocking seeking reimbursement of overpayments.”

“Legal action is an extreme measure forced on the PPTA because the Government hasn’t scrapped Novopay, or compensated for the suffering school staff have endured.
Ms Martin says the New Zealand Principals’ Federation has reported that 23 staff have resigned as a direct result of Novopay stress.

“It’s testament to the dedication of teachers that more haven’t walked.

“Minister Steven Joyce seems intent on continuing with an until-the-bitter-end approach, allowing the Novopay fiasco to drag on.

“You’re flogging a dead horse Mr Joyce and school staff will not forgive you for it,” says Ms Martin.

ENDS

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A (Sweary) Analysis Of Urgency Abuse And
The Consititution

Keith Ng: You’re looking at the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for the Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill. Basically, the courts said that the Government had to pay family members who looked after people with disabilities (because not doing so was discriminatory), so the Government passed this law to say: “Yeah nah.”

The RIS isn’t just redacted for the public – it was redacted for MPs. *Parliament* voted on this, with all the relevant facts blacked out.

Sure, it’s understandable, right? If you’re passing a law that’s really dodgy, you don’t want advice from civil servants saying “uh, this is pretty illegal” to be public. But actually, that’s not really a problem here, because in the same piece of legislation, THEY SAID THEY CAN’T BE TAKEN TO COURT. More>>