Leave The Publicity Over Labour's ACC Policy To Us Says McCully

"The Labour party shouldn't worry about publicising its ACC policy in the run up to the election - we'll make sure that all New Zealanders know all about it and how much it will cost them, both in terms of money and in terms of safety," ACC Minister Murray McCully promised today.

"Labour's policy creates disincentives for people to focus on safety. They want to equip an army of overalled bureaucrats with clipboards and biros to go round checking on whether workplaces look safe or not.

"Using a stick instead of a carrot has not worked in the past when it comes to safety and prompt rehabilitation and it will not work now. Last year workplace injuries cost the country around $4.2 billion. Armies of bureaucrats running around the country's workplaces will not bring that figure down.

"In the new environment created by this Government employers and insurers are working together to improve workplace safety to reduce hazards, which in turn reduces premiums for employers, and payouts for insurers. Employers are able to back their commitment to safety by risk sharing.

"Labour wants to wind back the clock , winding back savings for businesses and safety for workers at the same time.

"We'll make sure that employers and employees know that.

"We'll also let them know that nationalising workplace insurance could cost the country a billion dollars, and adding cover for illness as well as accidents will blow the premiums New Zealanders will have to pay sky high.

"Labour's policy is exorbitantly expensive and fails miserably to achieve the aim of creating incentives to improve health and safety," Mr McCully said.

© Scoop Media