Workers load trucks with parcels at the new distribution centre of the German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL in Berlin November 12, 2013. Deutsche Post posted a better-than-expected rise in quarterly operating profit as earnings at its domes
Workers load trucks with parcels at the new distribution centre of the German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL in Berlin November 12, 2013. Deutsche Post posted a better-than-expected rise in quarterly operating profit as earnings at its domestic mail and international courier units helped to offset adverse currency moves. Reuters/Stringer

Andrew Little, the new leader of New Zealand Labour has announced that he will redefine the party's core audience of working class by expanding its outreach in response to the contemporary changes in the profile of work force. Addressing a business audience in Auckland, his first formal public address, after becoming the leader, Little said he wanted to redefine the "working class" for which Labour will work for, reported 3 News.

Promising to move in sync with the contemporary changes, Little said Labour will stand up for, "people who are working hard, who may be getting a small business off the ground, people choosing to work on contract, people who are their own bosses". He said Labour party will professionally study the issues by setting up a commission called "The Future of Work," in which the Labour-led panel will probe the methods for creating jobs. He also took potshots at Auckland's housing market, where the average house price spurted $62,000 in the past one year. Little noted the average house in Auckland this year earned "more money than the average worker."

Makeover Measures

Andrew Little is working on a massive overhaul of the party after promising to resuscitate its fortunes after the miserable defeat in the September elections. To revamp the party, Little has roped in Australian political consultant Mike Richards, chief of staff for former Australian Labour leader Mark Latham. Richards has been given the task to review the functioning of Labour's backroom office, which is headed by Matt McCarten.

Little is the new man of mission for Labour to widen its support base beyond the traditional union workforce. Little noted that the ongoing digital revolution is changing the world and New Zealand has to start becoming more receptive to it.

Economic Paradox

Little appreciated the huge potential benefits in the digital economy driven by ideas and innovation, but it is also making many hard-working people harder to save, pay the mortgage and keep their businesses afloat. The economic security for New Zealanders has to be strengthened by the fundamental settings of the country's economy. "It is also about our investment capital going into speculation, instead of supporting the next great Kiwi business to create jobs and grow our wealth", Little noted.

Little told the audience it is not just those on low wages who are suffering. Even people with middle incomes, people who own a small business and people working on contracts, are feeling forgotten. Little reassured that Labour Party will speak for them and sees the need to broadbase the definition of working people because the nature of work itself has changed.

Little quipped, "For us, being the party of working people is not just about the New Zealanders who work 9 to 5 on a salary or on a shift for an hourly wage. we have to go beyond that" reported Radio New Zealand.