Modern slavery in NZ should be a priority

There has been an ongoing call for New Zealand to enact modern slavery legislation and while there had been considerable progress in the development of such legislation under the National-New Zealand First-Act coalition, things seem to have come to a grinding halt with the Government saying it is “not a priority”. This is a regressive position, a waste of effort, time and money, and exposes the cynicism of at least some of our ministers.

The call for modern slavery legislation has come from a diverse array of actors including businesses, consumers, academics, NGOs, trade unions, and foreign governments. In 2021, a petition organised by Trade Aid and World Vision, which gathered over 37,000 signatures, was presented to Parliament. Additionally, the government received an open letter signed by more than 100 businesses in support of legislation, and was followed by other public support, including investors.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment undertook a public consultation in 2022 on a legislative response to reducing modern slavery and worker exploitation in international and domestic supply chains. More than 5600 submissions were received supporting the introduction of legislation in one form or another, and in July 2023, the Labour government announced the drafting of modern slavery legislation, albeit a weaker version than what the ministry had sought public consultation on.

But this year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Brooke van Velden, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, said modern slavery was not a priority for the Government.

This is the same Government that, when in opposition with Paul Goldsmith as National’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson, criticised the Labour government for not advancing legislation quickly enough – a fair point – and saying the National Party would support some form of legislation. Christopher Luxon, when leader of the opposition, said modern slavery was an issue he would march on the streets for and New Zealand should legislate against it.

How many other governments have publicly said that addressing modern slavery is not a priority for them?

According to World Vision’s Risky Business report, New Zealand businesses have limited insight into the origins of their imported products, thus increasing the risk they are sourcing products made with slave labour.

Modern slavery does exist in the supply chains of New Zealand businesses, a fact it would be reprehensible of us to ignore. As Gary Shaw, former member of the Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group (of which I was also a member) recently said: “To pursue prosperity, growth and success on the back of modern slavery makes such prosperity a sham, compromises sustainable growth and makes a travesty of our apparent success, undermining the fairness and equality from which we derive our very identity as New Zealanders.”

The introduction of modern slavery legislation would align New Zealand with other countries leading in this space. Australia and the United Kingdom have modern slavery legislation, and according to the Australia Modern Slavery Register, 202 companies headquartered in New Zealand are listed on the register.

New Zealand has commitments under free trade agreements. Among these are the NZ-UK agreements, which came into force on May 31, 2023, and outline each party’s commitment to addressing modern slavery in supply chains. Article 23.9 states each party should “facilitate private and public sector entities to identify and address modern slavery in their global and domestic supply chains”. Expectations about decent work in global supply chains is similarly embedded in the EU-NZ free trade agreement which came into effect May 1, 2024.

Further, the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence requires companies to incorporate due diligence into their operations – including upstream and downstream partners – to “identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe”.

Implementing modern slavery legislation would unequivocally demonstrate our commitment to our free trade agreements. It would affirm that New Zealand companies are dedicated to maintaining ethical supply chains. Without such legislation, our global reputation is compromised.

In a 2017 op-ed, I wrote, “New Zealand risks falling behind countries we like to compare ourselves to, such as Australia and the UK, in our response to modern slavery, both at home and in the supply chains of businesses operating here.” This is even more so true today.

New Zealand businesses and investors are calling for the introduction of modern slavery legislation. Some have expressed disappointment that legislation has not progressed.

Rebekah Armstrong of World Vision sums it up nicely: “Businesses want legislation to address modern slavery because it provides a framework and guidance for them to meet international standards when exporting and importing products.”

The question is, why hasn’t the Government made legislation a priority?