Today’s passing of the Health and Safety Reform Bill marks a major step in addressing New Zealand’s unacceptable workplace death and injury toll, says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“This is the first significant reform of New Zealand’s health and safety laws in more than 20 years. It delivers a system that strikes the right balance between safe workplaces for workers and unnecessary red tape on businesses,” Mr Woodhouse says.

The Government is to enable local communities, through councils, to decide whether retailers can open on Easter Sunday, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse announced today.

“The current rules around shop trading over the Easter period are complex and relatively arbitrary. The law allows certain shops selling specific items to remain open, while others must close their doors.

“It also includes several historical exemptions which allow shops in areas such as Taupo to open on Easter Sunday, while those in Rotorua cannot.”

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today introduced a new bill that will extend paid parental leave and strengthen the enforcement of employment standards.

“The Employment Standards Bill includes a package of measures to extend paid parental leave entitlements to more workers and increase the flexibility of the scheme,” Mr Woodhouse says. 

“The changes aim to better support families by recognising the diversity of modern work and family arrangements and making it easier for parents to stay connected to the workforce.”

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse has today welcomed the appointment of a new Chief, three new members and the reappointment of eight current members of the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).

Long serving member Jim Crichton has been appointed to the position of Chief of the ERA.

Police Minister Michael Woodhouse welcomes today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Mike Bush that all frontline first response staff will soon routinely carry Tasers.

“The Taser rollout is an important step to help ensure the safety of both the community and our frontline officers and I fully support the decision,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“We know frontline officers often find themselves in rapidly changing situations and it is not always practical to return to their vehicle to retrieve a Taser.

The Government will introduce a package of immigration measures aimed at improving the spread of workers, skills and investment across New Zealand, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

“Thousands of people from all over the world are moving to New Zealand because it is a good place to live, work and raise a family,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“Those people make a significant contribution to New Zealand’s economic growth by providing skills, labour and capital we need, along with valuable cultural and business links.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse has welcomed today’s Select Committee report on the Health and Safety Reform Bill.

“The Committee’s report is an important milestone in the Government’s Working Safer reforms which are aimed at combatting New Zealand’s unacceptable workplace death and injury toll,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“It’s important to strike the right balance between safe workplaces for workers and unnecessary red tape on businesses and I’m confident we have landed in the right space.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced a package of measures to prevent unfair employment practices such as ‘zero-hour contracts’.

“New Zealand has a well-functioning labour market in general and our employment relations framework aims to strike the right balance between flexibility and certainty,” says Mr Woodhouse.

“However there are some practices that I believe are unnecessary and unacceptable for modern working arrangements.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse will travel to Samoa to attend Horticulture New Zealand’s annual Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) conference.

Mr Woodhouse will deliver the key note address to conference delegates.

During the visit, Mr Woodhouse will also visit Poutasi village to view sustainable community and business projects developed by RSE workers.

“I’m delighted that Horticulture NZ took up Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi’s invitation to hold this year’s conference in Samoa,” Mr Woodhouse says.

A new streamlined labour market test process in Queenstown will benefit employers trying to fill low-skilled vacancies, say Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse welcomes the roll out of online Work and Visitor visas as fantastic news for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) customers all over the world.

“Online visas are possible as a result of the development of INZ’s new ICT system, known as Immigration ONLINE,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“The roll out of online Work and Visitor visas follows the success of online student visa applications which have been available online since August last year.”

Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Woodhouse today paid tribute to former Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway who passed away yesterday.

“As the former Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter was an engaging, intelligent and passionate advocate for workers,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse will travel to Geneva, Switzerland to represent the New Zealand Government at this year’s International Labour Conference on 8-9 June 2015.

“New Zealand has a positive and constructive relationship with the ILO and I look forward to this year’s conference,” Mr Woodhouse says.

“It is a great opportunity to share insights with my ministerial counterparts and ILO officials on our experiences in the Workplace Relations and Safety and Immigration portfolios.”

Paid parental leave payments will increase from 1 July 2015, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse announced today.

The maximum weekly rate for eligible employees and self-employed parents will increase from $504.10 to $516.85 gross per week.

“The Government is committed to helping children get a good start in life and ensure that New Zealand’s parental leave framework better supports Kiwi families,” says Mr Woodhouse.

Budget 2015 will provide an extra $8.1 million of operating funding over the next four years for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), demonstrating the Government’s commitment to tackling serious fraud, SFO Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

“The work of the SFO is important to New Zealand’s economy because it protects New Zealand’s reputation as a safe place to invest and do business, which in turn contributes to growth in our economy,” Mr Woodhouse says.

Budget 2015 builds on the Government’s success in reducing crime and ensures New Zealand Police is fit for the future with new operating funding of $164 million over the next four years, Police Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to maintaining visible, active and hard-working Police that deliver more effective frontline policing and crime prevention to keep our communities safe.  

Budget 2015 will invest $33 million of new operating expenditure over the next four years to boost the number of immigration officers at a time of record-breaking visitor numbers, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

An additional $25.1 million of operating funding from the crown will be accompanied by $7.9 million of cost recovery from immigration fees, to total $33 million of new expenditure on the Immigration frontline. In addition to this new operating expenditure Budget 2015 also includes a $6.6 million capital investment in strengthened border security systems.

An updated Health of Older People Strategy will be completed by the end of the year, Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says.

The updated strategy will take into account changes to the health and disability support service sectors since 2002, the emerging challenges faced by the healthcare system and the development of a new Health Strategy. 

“The financial sustainability of our healthcare system is crucial. This is especially significant given our ageing population,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced changes to immigration policy which will make it easier to recruit and retain migrant workers for the Canterbury rebuild.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment estimates that an additional 5000 construction workers will be needed between December 2014 and the peak of the rebuild in December 2016.

Investing $32 million of new operating expenditure in employment relations services over the next four years will help strengthen compliance with minimum employment standards, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse says.

“Budget 2015 will increase the number of Labour Inspectors and strengthen education and information services to help manage and address breaches of employment law,” Mr Woodhouse says.

The Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) which cracks down on employers who exploit migrant workers passed its final reading in parliament today.

“I have been concerned about reports of migrant exploitation and am confident this new legislation will make a big difference in protecting some of our most vulnerable workers, says Mr Woodhouse.

“The fundamental principle is that migrant workers have the same employment rights as all other workers in New Zealand.”

Police Minister Michael Woodhouse and Customs Minister Nicky Wagner today congratulated agencies for the latest successful drug-related operation targeting the production and supply of methamphetamine in Auckland.

Operation Wand and Operation Sorrento recovered 123 kilograms of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of over $120 million in the Auckland region in late March. Nine individuals have been arrested and charged.