Doubt cast on Govt's 'Mondayising' costings

David Clark
David Clark
Documents released under the Official Information Act have raised doubts about government estimates it would cost about $400 million to "Mondayise" two public holidays, Dunedin North Labour MP Dr David Clark says.

Earlier calculations involving the cost of " Mondayising" Waitangi Day and Anzac Day read like "maths 101 gone wrong", Dr Clark said.

He is promoting a member's Bill, the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill, which seeks to "Mondayise" the two days when they fall on a weekend.

This happens about twice every seven years.

Such public holidays are usually "Mondayised" in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Supporters of the proposed change say it would bring the two days into line with New Zealand's other nine statutory holidays.

Dr Clark's Bill was likely to receive its first reading in Parliament within the next two months, and he had recently confirmed it had sufficient support in Parliament to be later referred to a parliamentary select committee, he said in an interview.

The proposed Bill was "just plain common sense" and he was optimistic it would eventually become law, given strong support from the public and most political parties.

The documents, which he had obtained under the OIA, showed Department of Labour officials "deliberately or otherwise" had focused on "counting the costs of the legislative change without considering the offsetting benefits", he said.

Employment and hours worked by self-employed people, who were not subject to the Holidays Act, had been included in the cost calculations, "while productivity gains from the benefits of having rested workers and extra benefits from increased domestic tourism aren't".

The documents also noted that cost calculations were "likely to be overstated" and email traffic preceding official advice to the Government had acknowledged the likely benefits to the economy but proposed "investigating no further, lest the results be ambiguous".

The Tourism Industry Association has urged the Government to "Mondayise" the two holidays, and has said it would further boost domestic tourism earnings in the regions.

Dr Clark said the government calculations also did not take into account the fact that employers could change the way they operated their businesses, further reducing costs.

He hoped New Zealanders would be "entitled to a day off" for all of the country's eleven statutory holidays before the end of the year.

Prime Minister John Key has previously noted that the Department of Labour had advised against Mondayising Anzac Day and Waitangi Day.

He also said he was seeking more information about the $200 million a day estimate, and said the Government was mindful of keeping afloat a lot of small businesses that were "struggling".

john.gibb@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment