Foolish Games
Let them eat cake, but not the leftovers.
Excuse me...
Think I've mistaken you for... somebody else
Somebody who gave a damn
Somebody more like myself!
Songwriter: Jewel Kilcher.
I’ve written a lot this week about the war and our government's wait-and-see response, as well as the Dirty Politics campaign aimed at Chris Hipkins, but today I thought I’d highlight a couple of things from ACT that have been taking place while all of that has been unfolding.
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Brooke says let them eat cake.
At a time when the cost of living is turning this country from a land of relative plenty to one where people are having to make tough choices, purchasing ever-lower-quality food, Brooke van Velden, not content with having taken fair pay from women, proposed the following increase in the minimum wage to keep up with costs.
With households struggling and real wages falling, Brooke van Velden suggested that the government impose a wage freeze on the lowest-income earners, on hard-working people who don’t even receive a living wage.
From The Post:
“Draft Cabinet papers released under the Official Information Act show van Velden presented ministerial colleagues with options ranging from no increase to 2%.”
With inflation at 3.1%, that represents a significant decrease in people's purchasing power, many of whom are likely already struggling or working multiple jobs.
Van Velden said, “Given the high unemployment and youth unemployment rates at the time, I presented my colleagues with a range of options to consider. I decided to consult with my coalition partners before refining the range of options and landing on a recommended option, and the final paper reflects that.” My interpretation of this is that with unemployment running high and people desperate for work, Brooke decided that it was an opportunity to screw workers by effectively lowering the minimum wage.
Green Party workplace relations spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said, “Brooke van Velden looked at the lowest-paid workers in this country and considered giving them absolutely nothing, while the cost of everything around them kept going up. Considering a 0% increase of the minimum wage is a slap in the face to workers who are already struggling to get by.”
In the end, the coalition decided on a 2% increase, which is still a drop in spending power for those on the minimum wage, and is about to get a whole lot worse with the impacts of petrol prices. Meanwhile, Nicola Willis is fighting with her own conscience about helping them, and so far, she appears to be winning.
It’s a bloody disgrace; nobody works harder in this country than those on the minimum wage.
Speaking of things that are disgraceful, it emerged this week that when Brooke van Velden and others discussed whether to cancel fair pay agreements for women, they spent less than an hour on it before agreeing to do so.
Are you angry yet? Forget everything else that they have done; just on this one issue, I cannot understand how any woman, or any decent man, could even consider voting for people who did that.
I’ll save you the whole those are your mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters speech, but c’mon, surely there is no coming back from that.
That vote, which the People’s Select Committee described as “a flagrant and significant abuse of power”, took place in March 2025, but Ms van Velden had already been planning to scrap fair pay agreements well before then.
From RNZ:
“On 29 January, 2024, van Velden wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon questioning the pay equity framework and signalling her interest in reform.”
In her letter, Brooke said that comparators were “distortive” and bargaining was “unreliable”, standard talking points from businesses that don’t want to address pay inequity.
But then ACT never claimed to be interested in helping other people, beyond the already wealthy.
David says don’t let them eat the food.
Last night on 1 News, there was an article about schools donating leftover food to community services, which David Seymour said could be breaking the law, although school Principals felt people would rather see the leftover food go to those in need than into the rubbish bin.
Lynda Knight, from Glenview Primary School, said there were people in the community who really appreciated the donations, and you could see that it was a no-brainer to her, and presumably anyone with a heart, to share leftovers with those in need rather than have them go to waste.
The Ministry has instructed schools via email not to distribute the food due to concerns over food safety and because excess food would raise the programme's costs.
David Seymour was interviewed, and he looked annoyed, saying, “People have been committing shoplifting and burglary for a long time; that doesn’t mean the Ministry for Education should encourage it.”
Sorry, what now? I posted:
David Seymour says giving leftover school lunches to community organisations is akin to shoplifting or burglary, and they must be thrown out rather than eaten.
What a guy.
Elaine commented, “Seymour, the real-life grinch who took food from hungry poor people and enjoyed seeing it go in the rubbish.”
Jillain wrote, “He also said you can’t take money from something that’s approved by parliament for a specific purpose and allocate it to something else. It’s the most important law in NZ.’ Three words, David: WOMEN’S PAY EQUITY. You snivelling little hypocrite.”
Jean said, “Unbelievable! Giving leftover school lunches to whānau in need in a non-stigmatised way is really helpful and also helps people feel good to see food shared rather than wasted. Maybe also keeping waste out of landfill.”
Lynda Knight (the Principal from Glenview Primary School above) looked bemused by Seymour’s comments and asked, “So we’re stealing from ourselves, the taxpayers? I thought taxpayers would like to know that our community, who are hungry, are benefiting.”
Ginny Andersen, Labour’s new Education spokesperson, said, “They go to either families in need or even a local food bank where they are being gratefully received by families who don’t have food. These are working families who have to make the decision between buying petrol and buying food for their families.”
Food banks are struggling, as for example in this article from last night: Student unions say they’re turning away hungry students as food banks go bare.
Act thinks that minimum wage workers deserve an effective pay cut, that women don’t deserve fair pay and that leftover kai should go in the bin rather than feeding people who need food.
New Zealand was once a proud egalitarian nation where we cared about others, but ACT stand firmly against that.
They are a party of the 1%, and I very much hope they will soon once again become a party on 1%, as they were before they played the racist card. They are simply incompatible with the Aotearoa that many of us want to see restored.
Have a great weekend, folks, and if you can afford to help out, no matter how little or much, it would be very much appreciated. Take care, all you lovely people.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To end today, a real favourite of mine, Jewel with Foolish Games. Not that a newsletter about those two deserves such a beautiful song.
Excellent article Nick. Those two robots need to be turned off and scrapped immediately. It’s a tragically predictable response from Seymour to the schools doing something constructive for their communities. Seymour is hilariously tragically evil.
How about 8% from the 8% ATLAS funded party.
Vote these pricks out in 26