Labour's Carmel Sepuloni launches the party's full policy plan at a gathering in West Auckland on 1 October, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Katie Scotcher
Labour has released its full policy plan this afternoon, with a focus on improving education for children and funding for training and work for youth.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins was due to reveal the party's plan in-person at an Auckland event but is now in isolation after testing positive to Covid-19.
Carmel Sepuloni was filling in for him at the launch instead.
Earlier today, National released its 100-day action plan, outlining its priorities in introducing legislation including repealing or removing some of Labour's moves.
Labour angled the press release for its 74-page "manifesto" on improving education for children and funding for training and work for youth.
Hipkins said in addition to the already announced plan to legislate core requirements for teaching maths and literacy, the party is announcing it would have a maths and literacy training fund for teachers.
"We will put a further $43 million into education and training pathways for young people who have dropped out or been expelled from school.
"This further funding will mean we can do more, on top of the work already underway through the Attendance Service and with our new attendance officers, to get the right services around them and use every lever we've got to get them back to school, into training or work."
Labour would also fund two million hours of catch-up learning in maths and literacy for years 7 to 13, provide 20 hours of early childhood education free for two-year-olds from next year, continue the free school lunches programmes.*
"Learning has been disrupted over the past three years so it's important we provide extra catch up support to students who need it," Labour Education Spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.
"Equally, we want to make sure that what's being taught in maths and literacy is consistent - and so we'll fund training for teachers in those subjects as well."
The Post Primary Teachers' Association has questioned goverments legislating core requirements in education, saying it was a slippery slope and sets a worrying precedent.
"Today, it's about how to teach reading and maths but who's to say with future governments it won't be about how to teach health, social studies or science?" acting president Chris Abercrombie said in August.
The Green Party has committed to expanding the free school lunch programme wider, increasing the number of children benefiting from it from 230,000 to 365,000 with the aim of eventually making it available to all schools.
The National Party has also committed to continuing the programme, with a promise to make it more efficient. However, National's likely governing partner ACT has committed to scrapping the scheme.
As for education, National's policy would shift the curriculum from two-to-three-year 'bands' of requirements to year-specific and involve children spending an hour on average per day on reading, writing and maths - similar to the 'Back on track' policy announced in 2021.
ACT is promising online league tables, restricting funding for ECE providers that fall short of teaching the basics, and letting school boards take over other failing schools.
Labour supporters gather in West Auckland for the launch of the party’s manifesto in West Auckland on 1 October, 2023. Photo: RNZ / Katie Scotcher
Other policies and concerns
Labour also highlighted it would make public transport free for under 13s and half price for people under 25, take GST off fruit and vegetables, increasing minimum wage, introducing paid partner's leave, free basic dental care for under 30s and boost Working for Families by $25 a week.
But there were a number of terms and conditions that came along with the GST off fruit and vegetables, and it has been criticised by some, including Child Poverty Action Group, for being an expensive and "sad" way of saving just a few dollars a week for households.
In addition, Labour's paid partner's leave announced in August came just a few weeks after it voted down a bill in the name of National deputy leader Nicola Willis, allowing parents to share their leave entitlement.
National accused the government of "shameful, mean and spiteful" politics, while Labour leader Chris Hipkins said officials had advised that National's bill would be "unimplementable".
As for the free public transport for children, this was already announced in this year's Budget, and is getting $327.4m in funding. It is being paid for from the dedicated climate fund, the Climate Emergency Response Fund or CERF.
The programme began on 1 July. Public transport is already free for under fives.
But in National's tax policy document, it stated they would "end funding for Labour's 'Community Connect' programme of additional public transport subsidies in Budget 2023".
The New Zealand Dental Association previously said more dentists and a renegotiated funding model would be needed for Labour's pledge on free dental care to come into effect. Labour said it would launch a campaign to recruit more dental workers from overseas in its first 100 days, if elected, and the cap on places for dental training would be increased by 50 percent.
While Labour said it would continue the fee-free prescriptions which came into force earlier this year, National said it would restrict it to superannuitants and those on low incomes.
*This story was updated on 6 October, 2023, to correct the school years the catch-up hours would apply to.