May 29, 2023
Davis warns of coalition of cuts
Labour has wrapped up its election year conference with promises to stay the course with its policies and calling National and ACT the coalition of cuts.
Leader Chris Hipkins promised Labour will make the Apprenticeship Boost scheme permanent if reelected.
The scheme introduced in 2020 in response to Covid has helped deliver a 61 precent increase in the number of apprentices over the last three years and supported over 57,000 tradespeople to help fill labour shortages.
Labour deputy leader Kevin Davis said ACT would rather imprison Maori than help them to avoid prison.
He said mass incarceration of brown people is the ultimate example of systemic racism and in 2023 there are Opposition parties proudly promoting it.
If ACT is part of the next government the Ministry of Māori Development will be gone along with the Climate Change Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Ministry for Women, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, for Ethnic Communities, and Te Arawhiti, the Ministry for Māori-Crown relations.
In their place will be a one size fits all model that has proven not to work, Mr Davis said.