Acting Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson has thanked the members of the East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservation Board for their hard work, with the board to be disestablished with effect from today due to a reconfiguration of boundaries.

"I would like to pay tribute to the members of the East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservation Board for their contributions to the conservation, protection and management of New Zealand’s natural and historical heritage in the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay region," Ms Wilkinson says.

"I would also like to acknowledge the Board’s support for the reconfiguration of the conservancy boundaries."

Department of Conservation organisational reviews led to the decision to disestablish the East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservancy and expand Bay of Plenty and Wellington Conservancies.

The current Bay of Plenty and Wellington Conservation Boards will have their areas of jurisdiction similarly expanded and are getting new names that reflect those areas.

Conservation boards provide links between the community and Department of Conservation, and represent the public interest in the department’s work and conservation in general.

It is the Minister’s intention to ensure the new boards are representative of the communities across their expanded areas.

Nominations from interested members of the public in East Coast and Hawke’s Bay for appointment to the enlarged conservation boards will be sought shortly.

Posted by staff in News at 14:19

Ladies and Gentlemen: a very warm welcome on this chilly Wellington evening.  It is an honour to be with you here tonight to celebrate a century of effective employment mediation — an approach which has benefitted New Zealand’s employees, employers and the country as a whole.

In the past 100 years, mediation processes have helped resolve workplace disputes by bringing common sense, goodwill and professionalism to the fore, as well as providing a safe environment for emotions to be expressed

In 1909 John Millar — one of my many predecessors in this portfolio — appointed New Zealand’s first three conciliation commissioners — they were resident in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

These commissioners were the fore-runners of today’s employment mediators. They chaired conciliation councils which were the first step in dealing with collective bargaining disputes.

Previously, many disputes had gone directly to the Arbitration Court. But the court became swamped by a flood of cases. Disputes festered and strikes became more frequent as cases waited to be heard.

Conciliation was a new concept designed to take pressure off the Arbitration Court. Its principal advantage was that it recognised the power of facilitated discussion and problem solving.

It was and is based upon the premise that when parties can be brought together by an independent facilitator they will find it easier to air their differences, find common ground and work towards a solution. This was an important innovation. It saved time and prevented the build up of latent antagonisms that had become a feature of the slow moving Arbitration Court. It resulted in both the speedier resolution of workplace disputes and better and more enduring settlements – all achieved at less cost to all parties.

For more than 80 years after 1909 conciliation remained a key component of New Zealand’s industrial relations system and remained largely unchanged until the 1970s when an industrial mediation service was established. At this time, employees covered by union-negotiated awards also gained the right to take personal grievances.

In 1987 the conciliation and mediation functions were combined into a new mediation service. Just four years later the Employment Contracts Act became law and this gave all employees the right to take personal grievances. The Employment Tribunal was then established to provide mediation and adjudication services.

Most recently, the Employment Relations Act 2000 created the current mediation services provided by the Department of Labour. This again separated mediation services from the adjudication services, now provided by the Employment Relations Authority.

In 2009 - 100 years after employment mediation was first created - the need for it remains as strong as ever, even though our 21st century workplaces are a world apart from those of our predecessors a century ago. Factories with huge smoke stacks that employed hundreds if not thousands of workers are less of a part of our landscape.

In 2009 most New Zealand workplaces are small and depend on technology and the brain power of their employees to produce highly-specialised products and services, often for world markets.

What they share with their predecessors of a century ago is the importance of team work and shared endeavour. If for any reason the flow of work is disrupted, the consequences can be serious and costly for everyone.

We know that work is all about human interaction. This requires workplace cultures based on good faith and trust. If employees and employers are to be productive their work must be underpinned by effective relationships based on mutual trust.

Differences and problems need to be freely aired. Sustainable and enduring solutions are the product of free and constructive discussion in which everyone has the opportunity to contribute freely.

Conflict is a normal part of life. However, if disputes remain unsettled, what are sometimes minor matters can be become serious and damaging. None of us want that. Therefore it is important that we work hard to resolves differences – where they happen.

But sometimes there are disputes that cannot be settled in the workplace – despite everyone’s best efforts. This is when mediation comes into play.

The best attribute of mediation is that the mediator is impartial. His or her job is not to take sides. Instead, a mediator uses his or her powers of listening to understand where people are coming from and to identify common ground.

Whether it is potential industrial action that has the capacity to cause major disruption to the country’s economy, or an employee alleging they have been unfairly treated by their boss, the fundamentals of mediation remain the same.

Mediation is a process in which the participants, assisted by a mediator, isolate disputed issues in order to develop options, consider alternatives and reach agreements.

The parties don’t even have to be in the same room. Mediation can take place by e-mail by telephone or by tele-conferencing. It can be held in the workplace or at Department of Labour offices.

Overseas studies show that effective dispute resolution has big economic benefits. A recent British study shows Acas (the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service) saves the economy nearly £800 million a year.

For employers, mediation is a big saver in terms of management time, while employees benefit from avoiding losses of earnings.

While similar research has not yet been carried out here, if it were, I would expect it to show similar benefits. Best of all, mediation is a free service available to both employers and employees and it has the capacity to produce speedier solutions when compared to most alternatives.

That is why mediation is still one of the most preferred dispute resolution methods. In 2008 almost 6,000 cases were referred to mediation, of which 80% were settled. This resolution rate has been maintained despite the number of requests for mediation rising by 26% between 2006 and 2008.

After 100 years, we can rest assured that we now have in place a well-functioning approach to dispute resolution. I am confident that it is an approach that will also continue to serve us well into the future, responding in innovative ways to emerging workplace needs.

Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate the integrity and professionalism of the mediators and conciliators who have contributed to this success.

Their history and their collective skills are celebrated in the book I am pleased to launch tonight: Contemporary Mediation Practice: Celebrating 100 years of Employment Mediation.

Effective mediation is a process that requires a high degree of integrity and scrupulous impartiality. Training and temperament are crucial to maintaining high standards. This must be informed by good judgment and underpinned by a sound ethical foundation.

Capturing these qualities is an important and challenging task. Tonight, I am pleased to also launch a Code of Ethics for Mediators employed by the Department of Labour. This outlines the key ethical principles that act as a beacon for effective, contemporary mediation practice – impartiality, confidentiality, voluntary participation, competence, responsiveness, client needs, facilitated resolution and the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

This code will provide our mediators with valuable guidance on complex ethical issues. This is important because it is the agreed interpretation of ethical standards that governs both the personal conduct of our mediators and underpins the integrity of the mediation process itself.

Mediation is an evolving discipline and our systems and approaches will continue to develop. It has been a pleasure to share a little of the history of this evolution tonight. It is something that our mediators have the right to feel justifiably proud about.

And I am confident that those of you who provide the service will continue to be effective in helping employers and employees expeditiously resolve their differences. This is no small thing, because it is on the basis of this sort of cooperative endeavour that our future prospects of economic prosperity and social harmony rest.

ENDS

Posted by staff in Speech at 13:17

Mr President, fellow delegates.

I am pleased to represent New Zealand at this important event, and I congratulate the ILO and the Director-General for their work in enabling this Summit to take place.

I’ve been impressed by the way in which all parties at the Conference are focused on the key issues confronting us and are working hard to find solutions to them.

Like most countries, New Zealand has been affected by the current economic situation. We entered a downturn in early 2008 due to a number of local factors which were then magnified as the flow-on effects of the financial crisis spread throughout world economies.

Consequently, we have seen economic contraction, with unemployment rising from a 22 year low of 3.5% in late 2007 to its current level of 5%, with forecasts near 7% in 2010.

In responding to the crisis, the New Zealand Government has therefore recognised the role it must play in keeping the economy going and focused on two key priorities.

First, cushioning the hardest-hit New Zealanders from the effects of the recession, both through helping business protect jobs and by giving New Zealanders who lose their jobs the best possible chance of finding new ones.

New Zealand’s fiscal stimulus package is about 5% of our gross domestic product – amongst the largest in the world. We've introduced new programmes to help workers who have been made redundant, and we are maintaining key social security entitlements and benefits.

Secondly, we are setting out a credible road to economic recovery, so we can emerge stronger from the recession than we went into it. This includes longer-term measures to lift New Zealand’s productivity, improve competitiveness and boost growth.

In this, we’ve taken an inclusive, tripartite approach, recognising that the problems arising from the current situation affect all New Zealanders.

In late February, our Prime Minister, the Honourable John Key, hosted a national Jobs Summit which saw unions, business, and Government united by a common desire to do as much as possible to keep New Zealanders in work during this recession.

The Summit identified a list of employment and skills-focused measures for stimulating demand and improving our long-term economic prospects. This included a new job-support scheme which will see the Government help stave off redundancies by making a wage contribution to help employees through a period of reduced work-hours.

Although New Zealand has been affected far less severely by the crisis than some other parts of the world, we still face uncertain times. New Zealand is a small trading nation and, like others, we are being buffeted by the economic storm sweeping the planet.

To echo the sentiment so eloquently expressed by President Sarkozy, New Zealand believes in a principled approach to international relations. At a practical level, we have already actively incorporated labour and environmental arrangements as part of the free trade agreements we have negotiated.

Dealing with the crisis will mean ongoing budget deficits and an expected doubling of Government debt over the next three years. We expect the New Zealand economy to permanently lose about 50 billion New Zealand dollars of output through to 2012, compared with what would have happened without the recession.

New Zealand therefore agrees with the Director-General that a coordinated response to the crisis is needed, that promotes a focus on jobs and growth.

To be of greatest value, a Global Jobs Pact must add something meaningful to the existing international debate, and focus on practical measures able to help the ILO’s constituents deal with and recover from the crisis.

This focus should be sharpened, not broadened out into other areas, and existing tools - such as the Global Employment Agenda - should be used where relevant. We are wary of any attempts to describe or define a "new globalisation" which detract from developing practical support measures for constituents.

Mr President, the current crisis poses a huge challenge to the tripartite partners and to the ILO itself.

This challenge will not be met through rhetoric, but by practical and useful actions developed to assist ILO members ride out the crisis and achieve a sustained social and economic recovery that reflects the shared values of this organisation.

Thank you.

Posted by staff in Speech at 13:06

New Zealand wineries can now have wine destined for Europe tested by laboratories closer to home instead of being sent to Auckland for analysis, Minister for Food Safety Kate Wilkinson announced today.

Ms Wilkinson says the new arrangements, being rolled out by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), were in response to calls by winemakers to allow testing to be done in laboratories closer to their operations.

"I was lobbied by National MPs on behalf of their local winemakers who had expressed frustration over the current process.

"It makes sense that wine should be allowed to be tested at any appropriate lab rather than forcing wineries to send everything to Auckland.

"A number of labs have indicated they want to offer the service, so wineries should soon have a choice of providers and can hopefully reduce their compliance costs."

The laboratory recognition programme starts on 1 July 2009 and will allow any eligible laboratory in the country to apply to carry out testing of wine for export to Europe.

The testing provides the information that New Zealand bases official assurances about the composition of our wine, and guarantees the wine complies with EU import requirements.

"This is essential for access to the United Kingdom, which is New Zealand’s biggest wine market," Ms Wilkinson says.

"In the year to February 2009, over 33 million litres of wine reached the UK market and every different batch has to be tested to get there."

Laboratories that want to become recognised to provide export wine testing must meet a number of requirements.

These include achieving accreditation in accordance with international standards, participating in an Inter-laboratory Comparison Programme, and demonstrating the ability to use NZFSA-approved test methods.

Posted by staff in News at 14:02

Families with new babies can expect a boost to their parental leave payments next month, Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson announced today.

The maximum parental leave payment will increase from $407.36 per week to $429.74 per from July 1.

The minimum payment for self-employed parents will also increase from $120 to $125 per week.

"Under the current economic conditions any increase in financial support for new parents is helpful," Ms Wilkinson says.

"The number of New Zealand parents receiving parental leave payments continues to steadily increase, with well over 23,000 families getting assistance each year."

The maximum rate of paid parental leave is adjusted every year to account for any increase in average weekly earnings.

Parents eligible for the scheme are entitled to up to 14 weeks paid leave at a rate calculated on the basis of their average weekly earnings.

Posted by staff in News at 13:58