John MacDonald: Now is not the time for 80% pay increases

I understand what the Prime Minister is saying about these pay increases for board members at Crown agencies, such as Health NZ and Kāinga Ora, but I’m not buying it.    The top payment was $90,000. It’s now $160,000.   Christopher Luxon says the Government needs to offer higher pay for these board roles so they can attract the best people. But tell that to the 28,000 people who have lost their jobs in the past year.  Tell that to the hospital staff striking for more pay. Tell that to the hospital staff who have had a gutsful of staffing levels going south.   Tell that to most people in New Zealand, and I think they’ll say that the Government couldn’t be more tone deaf if it tried.   As Labour leader Chris Hipkins is saying, people are struggling to make ends meet and this just shows how out of touch the Government is.   To be fair, the Prime Minister is correct when he says that they need to make these roles worth people’s while. Because, whether we like it or not, the Crown is competing with the private sector in trying to get the best people.   But being correct doesn’t always make someone right, and someone needs to tell Christopher Luxon that people don’t care what he knows until we know that he cares.   There he was again yesterday saying that he understands that people are doing it tough at the moment. He knows. But does he care?   The way Public Service Minister Judith Collins puts it is that this is actually a strong move by the Government. Because past governments have been too chicken to pay its board members more, and she says we can’t expect these people to work for chickenfeed.   I get what Judith Collins is saying too. And I know that, in the scheme of things, it’s not as if these increased payments to board members will amount to a massive amount of money.   But for me it’s all about perception and the message it sends.  Yes, people putting their hands up to sit on government boards want to be recognised for their time and effort. But consider how busy the Government has been telling local councils to cut their cloth. Consider how busy the Government’s been telling government departments to cut their cloth.    Yes, people on government agency boards should be paid what they’re worth, but now is not the time for 80% pay increases. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.