The year that began and ended with Labour policy bonfires

Analysis: It was a bad year to be a Labour party policy, with two prime ministers named Chris heaping them on the pyre.

Whenever we reach the end of another year, it’s traditional to look back on the winners and losers of the past 12 months.

I think we can all agree 2023 was not a good year to be a Labour party policy.

Twice this year, a new prime minister named Chris threw several of those policies onto a metaphorical bonfire – once when Chris Hipkins took over the reins in February, and again when Christopher Luxon led a new coalition government to power.

Let's recap the Labour policies razed by both Labour and National this year.

Jacinda Ardern hadn't even left Parliament before Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and his new Cabinet slashed policies introduced under her leadership.

In announcing the cuts to the Labour government’s programme of work back in February, Hipkins said it had tried to do "too much, too fast" and would refocus on "bread and butter" economic issues.

Those programme cuts included:

A proposed public media merger of TVNZ and RNZ was one of the first policies on the scrap-heap, with all work on that project stopped completely.

Instead, Cabinet opted to give Radio New Zealand and New Zealand On Air extra funding to support public media content.

Hipkins used his February policy bonfire to also hint at changes to his government’s controversial Three Waters legislation.

The government elaborated on those changes in April, saying it would create 10 water entities instead of four. It also attempted a rebrand of Three Waters, instead calling it Affordable Water Reform.

Now, those water reforms are set to be axed, with the new coalition government confirming it will repeal the legislation early next year.

Ownership and control of the country’s water assets will return to local councils, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said.

He said the Government will deal with New Zealand’s water issues by having a strong emphasis on meeting rules for water quality and long-term investment in the country’s ageing infrastructure.

The Labour Government put a pause on its proposed social insurance scheme, which would have offered ACC-style payouts for workers who were made redundant. The scheme would have been funded by levies paid by both employers and employees.

When the policy was first announced, Christopher Luxon said National opposed the idea, so it’s safe to say this policy will be staying on the backburner for some time.

Hipkins and his Cabinet also withdrew hate speech legislation that had been introduced in the wake of the mosque attacks in Christchurch.

The Labour government referred the matter to the Law Commission instead – but that work is coming to an end completely now as part of New Zealand First’s coalition agreement with National.

The new National-led coalition was quick to spark its own Labour policy bonfire after being sworn into government, using the last few weeks before Christmas to repeal a slew of laws.

This included:

The scheme Labour introduced to increase the uptake of EVs will officially end on December 31 after the Government passed a law to repeal it.

The discount on low-emission vehicles was funded through additional costs on high-emission imports, which is why National and ACT had both promised to end the scheme. They said it penalised farmers who had no viable low-emission alternative to utes.

The Labour Government’s law to enable Fair Pay Agreements was also repealed under urgency last week before any agreements could take effect.

As expected, businesses applauded the move while unions railed against it.

A leaked Cabinet document showed Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden ignored official advice that repealing the Fair Pay Agreements would disproportionately affect women, Māori and Pacific people.

But van Velden said the agreements "were never about fairness".

"They forced a minority of union workers' views on all affected workers and businesses and this government opposes the views that were put forward by the previous government and that law," she said.

The new Government has also reinstated 90-day trial periods for all employers, something the Labour Government had banned in 2018 for any business with more than 19 staff.

This Act was passed by the Labour government only in August this year, but the new Government has already repealed it under urgency.

The law required Inland Revenue to report each year on how the tax system was operating against a set of tax principles. The first of those reports was due before the end of this year, but it won’t be released now.

Revenue Minister Simon Watts said: "The bureaucracy it would have entailed is completely unnecessary."

New Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been particularly busy throwing policies on the bonfire.

So far, he's instructed the New Zealand Transport Authority Waka Kotahi to halt work on dozens of cycling and walking projects around the country, and HE HAS withdrawn government support for the Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme. Brown has also indicated the Government will end "blanket speed limit reductions" on roads.

The Government has also begun its work to dissolve the mega-merger of New Zealand’s polytechnics, with Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds setting out her expectations that local leadership be restored to its 16 polytechs by early next year.

Other Labour initiatives are being pulled back to save costs, according to Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ mini-Budget.

This includes reversing the planned 20 hours of free early childhood education for two-year-olds; stopping work on resource management reforms; and ending the half-price public transport fares for people under 25. The Brightline test for property ownership is also being reverted to two years.

The bonfire of Labour policies will now smoulder over the Christmas break, with other policies set to be thrown on it in 2024 as part of the Government’s 100-day plan.

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That will include repealing the smokefree law amendments Labour introduced and introducing legislation to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority) although the latter plan has had a Waitangi Tribunal claim laid against it under urgency.

Any remaining Labour policies may need fire-proof suits to survive 2024.