Editorial: Populist speeches achieve nothing

OPINION: Savvy politicians are adept at pushing the right emotional buttons with potential voters.

It doesn't have to be during the lead-up to elections for it to happen either. It can be at any stage during the election cycle. The only things they need are an audience to listen and a willing media to carry the message.

The list of emotive topics are many; from race to prison sentences to social welfare benefits.

So it was no surprise to see Labour Party leader Phil Goff continuing the trend during his visit to Ratana. Among the Ratana faithful he vowed to give a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour, a rise of $2.50. Run that through your calculator and you'll find it's a whopping 20 per cent increase.

Now ask yourself, is that a realistic rise? What about the companies that employ people at the lower end of the pay scale? That means an automatic expense increase of 20 per cent, which will only get passed on in products or services to the consumer.

Of course, Mr Goff can say all he wants about increasing the minimum wage while in opposition. All kinds of promises can be made, but this one is a real head-scratcher.

As a starting point, not all countries even have a minimum wage in place. It's good that we do. But any increases over the years have always been incremental. Ten cents here, 20 cents there; bit by bit the rate has gone up.

What the minimum wage should be needs a lot harder negotiation than politicians saying `yes, it should go up' (like Mr Goff wants) and simply `no' (as Prime Minister John Key prefers).

There's no doubting that people struggle to make ends meet and thousands fall into the minimum- or low-wage bracket. Of course, they would be keen for the rate to go up. Who wouldn't in that position?

I certainly wouldn't be arguing if the leader of the opposition was pushing for me to get a 20 per cent pay rise overnight without any change in my work conditions.

What has to be assessed though are the downstream effects of forcing employers to pay their staff more.

Mr Goff's latest speech, with a captive audience and all media eyes pointing at him, cannot have any or gain any traction.

It was a popular thing to say on the day and doesn't require any follow-through.

It was political, emotional button-pushing once again. No more, no less.

ONE MORE THING

Did anyone out there find Auckland's major power cut yesterday just a little funny? That aside, it must be hugely embarrassing for all involved to have the power supply of a city of a million-plus people hanging almost literally by a thread.

Transpower, the easy scapegoat in the saga, has been harping on about the lack of a secure supply into Auckland for years.

Not that people like to look that far back for blame.

- © Fairfax NZ News