It's been a week from hell, I lost my job at Five Guys
My girl just kicked me out, she says I'm lame (Horns)
Maybe she's got a point, who gets the sack from Five Guys?
She thinks I'm so incapable of change
Songwriters: Jonny Latimer / Joshua Grant / Levi Malundama / Samm Henshaw.
The minimum wage in New Zealand, the lowest you can legally pay an adult, is $23.95 per hour. It’s not much, and after 40 hours of work, take-home pay after tax is just $761.06 per week.
That might cover rent and utilities, but it won’t leave much for food or any other “non-essential” extras. As for saving a deposit for a house, you’re having a laugh. So most of their meagre income goes straight into the landlord’s back pocket, and they never get ahead, unlike the landlord, who gets the mortgage paid by someone else and then owns the property.
Some might say that is not the New Zealand we want; it’s unfair, and we need to do something to lift families out of poverty, but not David Seymour. No, rather than lifting people from the bottom up, ACT says they’ve had it too easy, and he wants to make life even harder for our lowest-paid workers - in the interests of businesses.
Even though this is very much an employer’s market, with record unemployment and many desperate for any kind of job, David says that’s not enough; he wants to freeze wages so employers can pay less over time and make more money.
At a time when those on the minimum wage desperately need a living wage, these avaricious monsters want to freeze the minimum wage for three years.
With inflation, the real value of the minimum wage will fall, forcing people into second jobs or leaving them unable to afford the basics. How this man manages to walk down the street is beyond me, and the self-centred greed of ACT voters makes me want to vomit.
If they are re-elected, ACT says they will freeze the adult minimum wage for three years and reduce the training minimum wage for workers under 20 to 60 per cent.
With inflation currently running at 4%, someone on the minimum wage would see a 12% decline in their wages after three years. On the other hand, this year David Seymour’s salary was increased from $362,600 to $369,800, effective 1 July 2026.
ACT’s changes would mean those under 20 could be paid just $14.37 an hour. How the hell are young people starting out supposed to live on that?
They also announced a crackdown on unions, saying they will “stop compulsory employer collection of union membership fees and make payroll deductions voluntary.”
First, National says 18- to 19-year-olds are the responsibility of their parents and can’t get income support any more; now ACT wants to slash the youth rate and discourage people from joining unions - the very people who will fight for fairer wages.
If you think this all sounds too awful even for this government, the truth is that it would already have happened but for the coalition agreement between NZ First and National, which says they “Commit to moderate increases to the minimum wage every year.”
Todd said, “Weird campaign flex, offering voters a low-wage economy.” He’s got a good point; usually parties campaign on raising the money in the pockets of workers, even if it’s with high-paying ghost jobs plucked from thin air - right, Nicola? But then the sort of people who vote for ACT don’t work for wages; the poor are just another target for kicking for the entertainment of supporters, like Māori were and will always be.
Debbie wrote, “Callous, arrogant b**tards. Talking to their voter base whose entitlement knows no bounds.”
Bevin said, “What a despicable bastard. The minimum wage has only increased by $1.25 in the last 3 years. Try living on $23.95 per hour.” That’s the thing: even though the minimum wage has increased each year under the coalition, those increases have been lower than inflation, so real wages have already fallen, even without a freeze, whereas under the previous Labour government real wages increased.
Moira commented, “Wow, they really see people as their slaves to build profit for their donors. Vote these fascists out!”
Lorraine wrote, “Oh, so not a wage freeze. Certainly not a big salary freeze. Just a minimum wage freeze.” Yes, there is certainly no “all in this together” aspect to this.
ACT says that freezing the minimum wage will “give productivity and market wages time to catch up, while giving businesses certainty over one of their largest costs”. After three years of failing to improve things, now we’re to believe that if we harm those on the minimum wage, it will benefit the economy and New Zealanders will be better off, well, apart from those whose quality of life is to be sacrificed.
Of course, those pesky unions that David Seymour wants to diminish weren't impressed by the policy.
CTU president Sandra Grey said, “Paying young people $14.37 an hour is unconscionable. It's nowhere near enough to live on, and it tells young workers their time is worth less than everyone else's.”
It’s obscene; who benefits when the 18-year-old working the drive-through at McDonald’s gets paid so little? It’s not much of an incentive, and realistically, the companies that will grow our economy aren't paying minimum wage.
“New Zealand should be building an economy where work pays enough to live and thrive on - not cutting wages, weakening rights and leaving working people worse off,” said Grey.
It’s a very clear choice this election: between those who want to raise people up to a better standard of living and those who want to sacrifice the hard-working people of our country so they can have more.
Before we finish, I want to acknowledge the departure of Green MP, former Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who gave her valedictory speech yesterday.
Celia said, “This country has a far better future available, for all of us, if we cooperate, base decisions on evidence, and think seriously about consequences for future generations. An honest politics is just that: telling people the truth, unbiased by corporate donations, instead of promising them more while saying ‘no’ to a fairer tax system.”
That is what we can choose this election, and ideas like freezing the minimum wage have no part in such a future.
Have a good Wednesday, all you lovely people, just 52 days to go.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
Please consider supporting my writing with an $80 annual subscription or $8 per month. If you’re a Gold Card holder or unwaged, it’s $68 annually or $6.80 monthly.
Alternatively, you could “Buy Me a Coffee” as a one-off koha for any amount you like.
To end today, here’s Samm Henshaw with Broke:
I wonder how a workforce of sick, malnourished people can improve the economy. Did David think of that?
How does a person become as heartless, greedy, and twisted as David Seymour?
How has New Zealand become a country where people like him can get anywhere near being in Parliament?