The Government has been criticised for its decision not to advance modern slavery legislation by business and legal experts, sparking concern New Zealand will fall behind other countries by failing to act.
In July last year, the Labour government announced a plan to make businesses report publicly on their actions to address exploitation risks in their operations and supply chains.
This proposal was developed with support from the Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group, chaired by former Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe, which was tasked with helping develop laws to combat the issue.
“The vast majority, well over 90%, were in support of the legislation and so it had been to Cabinet and had been approved to move to draft the legislation to then go through the select committee process,” Fyfe said.
Lawyer for ex-Gloriavale members Brian Henry said modern slavery was not just an issue overseas but here too.
“One, because you’ve got situations like Gloriavale, and the second is in the international chains because there is wide-ranging areas of slavery, child labour, which is akin to slavery and something has to be done about that because it’s appalling.”
However, the Government disbanded the group in May, with Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden telling Parliament the issue was not a priority.
In his resignation as chairman in April, seen by 1News, Fyfe said it was a “source of embarrassment and disappointment” that politicians had shown “scant regard” for victims of modern slavery.
“It is more than six months since we last formally met as a group. MBIE is still unable to provide any clarity on whether the legislation will proceed,” it read.
He said it had become clear from van Velden’s public comments and “lack of engagement” that the legislation was “neither a priority for her or a topic she had a genuine interest in”.
“With the change of government, there was no engagement and no priority based on this issue.”
Van Velden said Fyfe’s comments were a “surprise” to her.
“I hadn’t heard from Rob Fyfe before I’d actually set my priorities. I really do thank him for the work. Clearly he thinks this is really important.”
She said she agreed it was important but that a new law was not needed to fix it.
“It is already a crime for slavery, trafficking people. Migrant exploitation is also a crime.”
Labour’s workplace relations spokesperson Camilla Belich said we are “falling behind” other countries.
“We can’t keep kicking the can down the road. It’s essential that we act now,” she said.
“We have to something about it – we can’t just say it’s too hard.”
