Sick Leave Cuts: Van Velden Acquires 'Soldier On' Slogan

Brook van Velden here. Why are you reading this? Shouldn’t you be at work? Typical.

You know there’s been a lot of talk about sick leave lately, with people asking questions like ‘are you going to be cutting down on sick leave, and by how much?’

And my answer is ‘yes, and by as much as we can bloody well get away with.’

But we won’t be cutting the sick leave of people in full-time jobs. Not now. That will keep. When the PM told RNZ I was ‘looking into’ cutting sick leave from ten days to five, he was just being laser-focused on the future.

Right now, it’s you people in the part-time jobs we’re coming for.

Look at you. Working ‘part-time’. Great for some. Wouldn’t we all love to be doing that?

Oh sure, you have family obligations. Or a disability. Or study. Or whatever other ‘lifestyle choices’ you’ve made.

The fact is, you’re just the type of people who can’t be trusted to take sick leave only when you’re sick. The kind of people who, frankly, are holding this country back.