Govt in denial over manufacturing crisis

John Key and Steven Joyce are in complete denial about the crisis in manufacturing, and need to pull their heads out of the sand and get real, says David Cunliffe.

The latest BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index out today shows the sector has been in decline for four months straight. The PMI for September was 48.2 (a reading below 50.0 indicates the sector is declining). Over the last quarter the Index averaged 48.3.

“In the last four years 40,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost. But the Government refuses to act. It is content to sit on the side-lines and watch as New Zealand’s manufacturing base slowly crumbles.

“John Key might not want to admit it, but the crisis in manufacturing is all too real – that’s why businesses and unions are holding an emergency jobs summit in Auckland tomorrow.

“Every week another factory closes and more jobs are lost. Every week hundreds of Kiwi families give up all hope of building their future in New Zealand and move across the Tasman.

“The National Government has given up on manufacturing. But where are the 170,000 new jobs the Government promised in its May Budget going to come from if the manufacturing sector is left to wither and die?

“John Key might be happy to sit idly by and watch thousands of good-paying jobs destroyed – but Labour isn’t. Labour is committed to rebuilding the country’s manufacturing and exporting industries,” says David Cunliffe.