A new venture

Superlab Group

The Labour Party in New Plymouth launched a new initiative this week. Not another administrative gimmick, but a discussion group for older voters.

This Group is being set up to meet recent requests for more opportunities to discuss policy. We are holding it during the daytime session for retired members and supporters who feel they would like to contribute more to policy formation but are not enthusiastic about going out on winter evenings.

Five of us met over morning coffee and cake to think about the three policy matters the Labour Party is concentrating on at present: Jobs, Education and Housing.

We started by asking: what did you learn about work situations from your years of experience in the workplace?

Answers concentrated on three subjects: unions and solidarity, job creation in the regions, and an education system for non-academic work.

One of our members stressed the importance of a vision for the future to inspire the nation to focus on its dreams. Others were concerned about the fate of small-town  communities, and still others about helping younger generations to be aware of political realities.

We certainly recognised the changing nature of work in this century: the ability to do some jobs from any location, flexibility of hours and workplaces, or increased difficulty in getting into the workforce in the first place.

Future meetings will be held over coming months: next month to provide some feedback to Labour's Future of Work Commission, being led by Grant Robertson. We have two articles from the Work Research Institute at AUT to read as "homework"!

After that we plan to spend a couple of meetings talking about Education, and two more about Housing. Then we will think about making this a permanent activity.

Watch this space!