Redundancies Bite.
Farewell to Newshub and the Productivity Commission.
We all knew this government meant redundancies - lots of them. National highlighted they’d be taking a scalpel to government departments, cutting them to the bone. ACT fantasized about going deeper.
Thousands losing their jobs in a sector that won’t be hiring any time soon. I could make a joke here about there being government redundancies too. Boom boom, you thought I was talking about public services then realised it was the media. Hilarious.
But it’s not funny is it? Redundancies are bloody awful. And they’re only made worse if those managing them handle it poorly.
The Productivity Commission (PC) ceases operation today. I don’t know if that means people are packing their personal things into boxes as you read this, or if the doors are already locked, the people gone.
It’s closing to make way for David Seymour’s new Ministry of Regulation. Twenty people are losing their jobs, and will find themselves in a rapidly cooling job market.
So what is this PC thing then? Another Labour move the government are cancelling? Well, I’m glad you asked.
“The Productivity Commission was set up in 2011 by a former National-led government at the urging of the ACT Party with the aim of researching and advising how to improve the country's economic and business productivity.”
They’re actually cancelling their own idea. So that’s different.
National aren’t usually prepared to admit that their initiatives haven’t worked. In fact they tend to recycle, rather than cancel, their failed approaches. So presumably the axeing of this means that improving “economic and business productivity,” is no longer seen as a desirable and/or achievable goal.
Which is a real shame as it’s long been held out as the fabled golden carrot that would finally see workers reverse the decline in the value of their wages.
Chairman Ganesh Nana, said they only found out the commission was at risk when the coalition’s deal was unveiled. But he wasn’t speaking out about the decision, rather the way that it was handled.
“To hear via a public announcement to media that the organisation you work for is to be closed, without even a courtesy heads-up beforehand, was incredibly thoughtless and unnecessarily cruel to the commission's staff.
This did not reflect well on those who decided and chose this process.”
Nana said even after it was announced there’s been no contact from the Minister, Nicola Willis, just a letter. There’s no excuse for not picking up the phone Nicola, heck Winston Peters even does it during Question Time!
I’m been through both sides of this in my career, been made redundant and made others redundant, both are horrible. It’s a sickening thing to experience and an awful thing to do to somebody else. But if you’re in the position where you have to do it then you bloody well do.
You put your big boys/girls pants on and you communicate honestly and clearly - it’s the least that people deserve. You don’t let them find out through the media, you front up and you show them the compassion and the respect that they deserve.
Sadly as you know those weren’t the only redundancies in the headlines yesterday.
“Staff at one of New Zealand's largest media companies were called to a 11am meeting. There was speculation beforehand that there would be a major announcement that would impact the company's future.
Warner. Bros Discovery, which runs both Three and Newshub, asked Auckland staff to attend the meeting in person and others to dial in. It would see the closure of all Newshub's TV and online news platforms.”
The announcement was so significant that the Prime Minister was briefed beforehand. It doesn’t pay to hear about such things in the media, right guys?
The PM said it would be a “pretty tough day” for the employees and their families.
Luxon said consumers are now choosing to get their news through a variety of outlets. He added there was a “plurality of voices” in New Zealand and that would continue despite Newshub's closure.
What a guy!
In response to questions over whether the way politicians have talked about the media was a problem Luxon said, “If there's a trust challenge with the New Zealand public... they need to ask questions about why aren't they connecting, why aren't they able to build sustainable business models.”
Once again the man is acting like a CEO, not the leader of a country. Where was the empathy, beyond a trite acknowledgment that it would be a “pretty tough day”?
Minister for Media and Communications, Melissa Lee, said “Warner Brothers Discovery has never actually reached out for assistance. It's not something they felt was helpful. I don't think there is anything we could have done to assist them.”
This came as news to Warner Brothers Discovery, who pointed out that it wasn’t true. It occurred to me that if this was a Labour Minister that might be deemed significantly more serious, and quite possibly called something else.
Lee later told Newshub she misspoke and meant to say Warner Bros Discovery hadn't asked specifically for financial assistance. Naw. Don’t you just hate it when you misspeak? Oopsie Daisy.
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Asked about his attacks on the “woke” media Winston Peters said “You know it's woke, and all the evidence is there for that... they've lost substantial trust from the public. Now, those are facts, if you want to turn us into some sort of argument blaming me then you've got to be joking.”
If you thought the third head of the Taniwha might be more sympathetic (don’t worry, I know none of you did), then David Seymour was quick to disavow any such notion.
Asked whether there was any consideration of the government intervening he said they weren’t in the business of owning TV stations. Rather than throw a lifeline to Newshub he was lining up a torpedo at TVNZ.
I was very sorry to hear the news. Whatever concerns I've had with their reporting our media landscape will be so much poorer for Newshub’s absence. A TVNZ monopoly on the main news people receive is unhealthy. This closure is bad for the country, terrible for the people losing livelihoods, and I take no joy from it.
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