4. Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his reported statement that he agrees that the future of some children is at risk but it is a balancing act?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
Mr SPEAKEROrder! [ Interruption] I am on my feet, and this nonsense will stop immediately. We will not have any more of this.
Has he failed that balancing act when New Zealand’s teenage unemployment rate has trebled under his watch and when the Human Rights Commission reports that having 58,000 young people not in education, employment, or training threatens New Zealand’s social cohesion?
With the unemployment rate amongst 15 to 19-year-olds increasing from less than 10 percent when he, the Prime Minister, took office to nearly 28 percent, why has he cut funding for industry skills training by $145 million this year?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
He has not, but what we have done is insist that there be quality. Recycling young people into substandard education and training opportunities is not doing anything for them. That is something the Opposition was quite happy to see when in Government but this side of the House is not. We will insist that training is meaningful and that it opens up young people to opportunities.
Why is he denying that his Government has cut $145 million from industry skills training this year when he acknowledged that fact last week in the House?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
We are insisting on quality. The other side of the House was interested in quantity and whether young people were sitting on seats and being there. We are—
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think you will recognise that I asked why the Prime Minister is now denying that he has cut $145 million this year when he acknowledged that fact in answer to a question last week. The Minister has not attempted to answer that part of the question.
I call the Hon Paula Bennett. The question repeated by the honourable Leader of the Opposition is what he asked.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I think the member needs to look at how he asked those questions both times and see that they justified different answers.
As Speaker I have accepted that the repeated question seemed to me to be a reasonably accurate representation of the first question.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I was referring to his question last week, not to the two questions today.
How does the cutting of 31,000 industry skills training positions and having 1,000 fewer young people in Modern Apprenticeships reduce young people’s risk of unemployment and disengaging from the community?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I will go back to the original answer. As I was explaining, we need to look at the quality of the training that these young people are seeing. We have repeatedly seen young people being recycled, because the incentives have been wrong. We will demand more from those organisations and more for these young people, and we will make no apologies for it.
Does he count his young unemployment policies a failure when Statistics New Zealand records that the nearly 28 percent unemployment rate for 15 to 19-year-olds is the highest since the Great Depression; if not, why not?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Because when one looks at it in bigger terms one sees that for 15 to 24-year-olds that number has gone from 18.8 percent on 11 March to 17.4 percent now. In January 2010 we saw that there were more than 23,000 on the unemployment benefit; there are now just over 16,000. Investment into things like Job Ops has made a difference, with more than 90 percent staying in those jobs and not going back on a benefit. That is a success.
Is the Prime Minister therefore saying that Statistics New Zealand has it wrong in saying that the rate of unemployment for 15 to 19-year-olds is the highest since the Great Depression?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
No, we are saying that there are a number of factors. We are putting the investment into young people, where it is needed; 43,000 are going to new jobs created in the last year. There is a lot further to go, but we will get them education and the right sort of training so that they can take up those jobs as they come up.
Does he accept that his unemployment policies for young people have failed when the New Zealand Institute reports that youth unemployment rates in New Zealand are the highest of any developed country?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
There is room for celebration in some of this. For example, Māori youth unemployment rates have gone from 30.3 percent in June 2010 to 24.8 percent now. That is still too high—it is still too high—but we are tracking down. There is a long way to go, but 43,000 new jobs last year—15,000 of them for young people—is a good start. We will continue to celebrate and recognise the contribution those young people can make.
Is it really a cause for celebration that the youth unemployment rate for 15 to 19-year-olds is the highest since the Great Depression and the highest of any developed country; if so, how is that a cause for celebration?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
That is not what I said. But I will say that this Government is doing something about it. We are putting the investment where it should be, we are recognising that those 16 to 17-year-olds—[ Interruption]
Order! [ Interruption] It is lucky I did not hear that. The member must not interject while I am on my feet. We will not have any more of that. A question was asked and an answer was being given. It was a perfectly reasonable answer, and the level of interjection made it impossible to hear. If a question is serious, members should want to hear the answer.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
We have 16 and 17-year-olds leaving school and no one even knew who they were or where they were.
I want members on both front benches please to cease this carry-on that we have had today. It is unhelpful. I have already dealt with one member and I do not want to deal with any more.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
We have 16 and 17-year-olds leaving school whom no one can track. In all the years under the Labour Government nothing was done about them. We saw them leaving school, unable to be tracked. We were unable to know where they were, and we were unable to make contact with them. We are doing something about that.