Could the social safety net be differently arranged? Photo: Getty
Could the social safety net be differently arranged? Photo: Getty

OPINIONPoliticsOctober 27, 2020

One big idea for the National Party to show it’s up for fresh thinking

Guest writer
Could the social safety net be differently arranged? Photo: Getty
Could the social safety net be differently arranged? Photo: Getty

As it picks itself up from a drubbing, National needs to consider some new ways of doing things, such as reinventing the way we do social welfare, argues Liam Hehir.

Yesterday was Labour Day. It has been Labour Month, in a way, with Jacinda Ardern’s party drubbing National in the general election 10 days ago. In fact at this point we could just call 2020 Labour Year.

There are many reasons for National’s humiliating defeat and the party should not react hastily. Labour provided the country with stability and order at a time of peril and has campaigned on more of the same. There is no reason to assume that the public is hungry for an ideological sea-change.

Nevertheless, a defeat of this magnitude does present an opportunity to reconsider the times and how they have changed. The free-market revolution – which began in New Zealand in 1984 – is now more than halfway through its fourth decade. The reforms of that era have become thoroughly entrenched as our national economic orthodoxy.

Moderations have been put in place from time to time and exceptions have been made here and there, but neoliberalism– and its principles for public policy making – continues to hold sway over both governing parties.

But National is not a doctrinaire party. It is a liberal-conservative party. It is not beholden to any particular dogma. Nor is it adverse to reinventing and repurposing old ideas to meet new challenges.

So, in honour of the Labour Day we have all just enjoyed, my proposal is that National start thinking about doing employment relations and social security a bit differently. At a time of great economic uncertainty, there is no reason for the party to remain unconditional servants of zombie Rogernomics. There are other ways.

The “Ghent” system, for example, involves administering benefits primarily through trade unions instead of government departments. The government still meets the cost, but payments are decentralised to whichever association the worker voluntarily signs up for.

Payments and conditions are ultimately flexible and determined by the union. The union may, for example, choose to set the level of payment in a way that reflects the employee’s existing income rather take a one-size-fits-all approach.

This Ghent system originated in Belgium, hence the name. It finds its fullest contemporary expression, however, in Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. That should give some comfort to more left-wing readers who fear this is a circuitous route to privatising the social security net.

Trade unions need not be the natural enemy of the centre-right. It is true that many professional union organisers sometimes seem to prize criticising the free enterprise system more than helping their members to thrive within it. This does not have to be the case, however, and the Ghent system embodies many things that are consistent with National’s broader aims of decentralisation and smaller government.

To the properly ordered conservative mind, unions are – or have the potential to be – great repositories of social capital. Like religious institutions and sports clubs, they are the type of institution that binds members of society together beyond their families and narrow friendship circles. They are what Alexis de Tocqueville would have recognised as “mediating institutions” that act as a buffer between the powerless individual and the powerful but faceless state.

It is no surprise that the rapid decline of unions in recent decades has mirrored those other civil society institutions from Rotary clubs to Anglican churches.

When benefits are administered through unions, workers have a strong incentive to join them. Countries that operate along Ghentish lines have very high rates of union membership as a result.

Employers win too, because another feature of Ghent system is significant labour-force flexibility. None of the above have a legally set minimum wage, for example, with wages set by negotiation between unions and employers. And because the system is more focused on income security, job security is seen as a less of a priority. Unions are also actively involved in worker training, discipline and recruitment.

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In short, it is a system based much more on the idea of a partnership between capital and labour than the 19th-century idea of class antagonism between them.

Implementing a Ghent-like system in New Zealand would not be straightforward. In the first place, the hollowing out of labour unions would need to see the value of changing how they do things and many of them may have a reflexive preference for the status quo (or at least some variation of it). If some kind of cross-party consensus could be built, however, there is no reason as to why Ghent-like reforms could not be implemented in New Zealand in an incremental way over time.

What could be more conservative than that?

Keep going!
Tool covid

PoliticsOctober 26, 2020

Live updates, October 24-26: No new community cases; five new cases in managed isolation

Staff writers
Tool covid

Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 24-26. All the latest New Zealand news, updated throughout the day. Reach us at info@thespinoff.co.nz

1.00pm: No new community cases; five cases in managed isolation

The Ministry of Health has just emailed through today’s Covid-19 case number update. This is how it reads:

There are again no new community cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today. There are five new cases from managed isolation.

One other case has now recovered, meaning the total number of active cases is 74.

The five cases today include three additional international mariners in the Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport, this brings the total number of mariners who have tested positive to 32.  The three cases today were tested at day nine as they were part of the group who had previously been in close contact with other confirmed cases.  These three are now in quarantine, along with the other mariners who had earlier tested positive.

Of our remaining two positive cases to report today, the first is a family member of a positive case who is a recent returnee and both were already in quarantine in Auckland’s quarantine facility.

The other case is a recent returnee who arrived from Ethiopia via Dubai and tested positive as a result of routine testing around day three.  This person has also been transferred to Auckland’s quarantine facility.

Our total number of confirmed cases is now 1,584.

Yesterday our laboratories completed 3,038 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,070,181.

Testing has continued at a steady level in the Auckland area, with metropolitan DHBs reporting 478 people swabbed at the region’s seven community testing centres.

The seven community testing centres remain open today  – those are Northcote Community Testing Centre, Northcare Accident and Medical, Whânau House in Henderson, Western Springs Community Testing Centre, the Whânau Ora Community Clinic in Wiri, the Otara Community Testing Centre, and the North Harbour stadium carpark in Albany.

COVID-19 testing is also available across metro Auckland at a number of urgent care clinics and general practices over the long weekend. A reminder that wherever you get swabbed, a COVID-19 test is free of charge.

We want to again thank New Zealanders, especially Aucklanders, who are doing the right things by remaining vigilant, self-isolating and getting tested if they have even the slightest symptoms. Your actions are helping to keep you, your whânau and your communities safe.

Full details of testing availability in Auckland and the testing centre opening hours can be found on the ARPHS website https://www.arphs.health.nz/public-health-topics/covid-19/where-to-get-tested/.

Auckland Maritime Cases

We now have preliminary results of the genome sequencing for the two other Auckland cases linked to the original worker who returned a positive test result after working on the ship the Sofrana Surville.  The genome sequencing shows the three workers all have an identical form of the virus – further evidence their infections are from a common source.

Australian authorities are doing genome sequencing on the three crew members of the Sofrana Surville who tested positive on arrival in Brisbane after leaving New Zealand.  Those results are pending.

NZ COVID Tracer

There are now 2,327,600 users registered on NZ COVID Tracer.

The app has recorded a total of 99,460,306 poster scans, and users have created a total of 4,182,114 manual diary entries.

The Ministry of Health continues to strongly encourage everyone to scan QR codes where ever they go.  The more we scan, the safer we’ll be. More scans facilitate a faster response.  The faster we respond, the faster we stop COVID-19.

Wherever you are in New Zealand over coming days, you can call Healthline for advice 24/7 and information on testing locations. Its dedicated COVID-19 number is 0800 358 5453, or you can check with the DHB’s website.

We’d also like to extend our thanks to primary care teams, laboratory staff, public health teams, hospital staff, incident management teams, managed isolation and quarantine staff and the other health professionals who are working during this long weekend to support our pandemic response.

1.00pm: No new cases in the community; one border case reclassified

The Ministry of Health has just emailed through today’s Covid-19 case number update. This is how it reads:

There are no new community cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today.

One case from managed isolation, which was under further investigation yesterday, has been reclassified as a confirmed case which has now recovered.

Three other cases have also now recovered, meaning the total number of active cases is 70.

We can confirm all day 6 testing for the international fishing crew has now been completed, with no additional positive results to report from yesterday.

Our total number of confirmed cases is now 1,579.

Yesterday our laboratories completed 5,396 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,067,143.

This is a strong weekend figure.

Testing has also been pleasing in the Auckland area, with metropolitan DHBs reporting steady demand at the region’s seven community testing centres, where 633 people were swabbed yesterday.

The seven community testing centres remain open today and tomorrow  – those are Northcote Community Testing Centre, Northcare Accident and Medical, Whânau House in Henderson, Western Springs Community Testing Centre, the Whânau Ora Community Clinic in Wiri, the Otara Community Testing Centre, and the North Harbour stadium carpark in Albany.

COVID-19 testing is also available across metro Auckland at a number of urgent care clinics and general practices over the long weekend. A reminder that wherever you get swabbed, a COVID-19 test is free of charge.

Full details of testing availability in Auckland and the testing centre opening hours can be found on the ARPHS website.

Where ever you are in New Zealand over coming days, you can call Healthline for advice 24/7 and information on testing locations. Its dedicated COVID-19 number is 0800 358 5453, or you can check with the DHB’s website.

We’d also like to extend our thanks to primary care teams testing today, the laboratory staff, public health teams, hospital staff and the other health professionals who are working during this long weekend to support our pandemic response.

NZ COVID Tracer

There are now 2,325,300 users registered on NZ COVID Tracer.

The app has recorded a total of 98,703,172 poster scans and users have created a total of 4,151,438 manual diary entries.

It’s encouraging to see the number of poster scans has almost doubled compared to the number we reported last Wednesday.

The more we scan, the safer we’ll be. The faster we respond, the faster we stop COVID-19.

11.45am: Tool frontman had Covid-19 in Auckland

The lead singer of Tool, Maynard James Keenan, has revealed during a podcast interview that he had Covid-19 while performing shows at Auckland’s Spark Arena in February.

Keenan told the Joe Rogan Podcast he spent four days in an Auckland hotel “just trying to get through it” before the concerts on February 28 and 29. According to Keenan, a New Zealand doctor told him he couldn’t have the virus since he didn’t have a fever. The singer was finally diagnosed a few days later after landing in Hawaii.

The Tool shows already had a local connection to Covid-19, having been attended by New Zealand’s fourth-ever confirmed Covid-19 case. The fan tested positive a few days after attending the February 28 show.

1.00pm: 11 new cases of Covid-19 in managed isolation

The Ministry of Health has announced 11 new cases of Covid-19 – all from managed isolation. There are no new cases in the community.

Five of these cases are part of the day six testing of international fishing crew in Christchurch.

The remaining six cases involve a family group of two who arrived from Amsterdam via Singapore, two recent arrivals from the United Kingdom, one from the United Arab Emirates, and one whose details have yet to be released (the ministry expects more information by tomorrow).

All six cases have returned positive tests at around day three, as part of standard border testing protocols and they are now in quarantine.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand is now 74. Laboratories completed 7,700

The ministry says 7,700 Covid-19 tests were completed by its laboratories yesterday.

12.50pm: On The Spinoff today

While you’re waiting, have a look at some stellar pieces we’ve got on the site today:

12.30pm: Covid-19 numbers to be updated at 1pm

There’ll be an update from the Ministry of Health this afternoon via press release. Yesterday there were nine new cases announced with one in the community – a household contact of a confirmed case in the newly named “marine employee cluster”.

Seven of the new imported cases were part of the group of fishing crew in the Sudima facility, recorded at day six testing. The other case arrived on October 19 from Iran via Dubai, and tested positive on day three testing and is now in quarantine.

Yesterday’s headlines

Nine new cases of Covid-19 were announced: eight in managed isolation and one linked to the “marine employee cluster”.

The Malt pub in Greenhithe closed its doors for a fortnight after being told all staff needed to self-isolate due to Covid-19 concerns.

A Browns Bay gym has closed for a five day deep clean after a confirmed Covid-19 case visited the facility.

Labour’s Peeni Henare said he wants to be health minister this term after serving as associate health minister in the last government.

Trump and Biden faced off in the second and final live presidential debate. Before the debate, Trump released the full, unedited footage from his upcoming 60 Minutes interview – just days before it was set to go to air.

Read yesterday’s live updates

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