10. JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
Does she stand by her statement in relation to the largest quarterly decline in employment in 19 years “Ah, well I, I don’t think that this is bad news at all actually.”; if so, why?
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
Yes, I do stand by my statement; because it would be very hard to describe an economy that has 350,000 more jobs, that has had an unemployment rate of under 4 percent for 15 straight quarters, that has the third-lowest unemployment rate ever recorded in the history of the household labour force survey, and that has 140,000 fewer people on benefits as being bad news.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen—well, Mr Cullen might not find it very interesting—the 466 workers at PPCS Ltd who have lost their jobs today that she does not think that that is bad news, at all, that “things go up and down”, and that she does not “expect people to overreact”; is she going to go and tell them not to overreact?
Madam SPEAKERIt is impossible to hear, given that the sound system is not working properly. I will have to ask people to ask and answer questions in silence, unless members keep the noise level down.
I find it personally distasteful to have my words in relation to the New Zealand economy distorted to reflect the proposition that I find it pleasant that individuals are being made redundant. That is not true, at all. I feel very sorry for any person who is made redundant. Our Government ensures that both the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Labour have staff on the spot on the day, to give those workers every support possible, and I remain committed to doing that.
Sue MoroneyThe current unemployment rate is 3.6 percent. That means that unemployment has remained below 4 percent for nearly 4 years. No other country in the OECD has achieved that record, including Australia, which has just announced that unemployment has increased to 4.2 percent. Our current unemployment rate is quite a significant contrast to the unemployment rate of 7.1 percent in 1999, when the member opposite’s party was in Government.
Dr Pita SharplesTēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Would the Minister say to Māori people that the fact that the unemployment rate of Māori has shot up from 7.3 percent in December to 8.6 percent, compared with 3 percent for Europeans, is not “bad news at all actually” and how high does unemployment amongst Māori have to climb before it becomes bad news?
We will have the answer in silence. I have warned members three times. Because of the problem with the sound system, it is impossible for me to hear.
The fact is that unemployment amongst Māori has halved in the last 8 years. This Government has overseen an economy in which over 1,000 jobs per week have been created—not just in one week but in every week of every year in which we have been in Government. We will continue our commitment to active labour market policies to ensure that every New Zealander who is able to work is supported into a job, but also to ensure that every person who is not able to work has the financial security to be able to live, which is exactly the opposite, from both perspectives, of that member’s party.
Can the Minister explain why the experts think a fall of 29,000 in the number of employed people is an absolute shocker and very grim, but she does not think that it is “bad news at all”, and thinks that people are overreacting, or has she been too busy lately singing silly little songs to venture out into the real world?
I thought it was blindingly obvious to anyone who heard that song that neither a lot of time nor effort had not been put into either the preparation of it or the practice, frankly. The fact is that the household labour force survey for the previous quarter showed that the female labour force participation rate went up to exactly the same extent that it then went down. It was not about job losses; it was about labour-market participation. The female labour participation rates are very volatile. The member made no positive comment about the increase in the previous quarter, and that is why the New Zealand public reflect that she has only a negative gene and never looks at any positive news.
Can the Minister explain why she is so out of touch that she believes that there “haven’t been significant job losses to date in the construction industry”, when Westpac has reported that there has been a loss of 11,000 jobs in the construction industry in the past year; and has she told those builders who have lost their jobs that that is not significant?
The member is mis-speaking. She is not reporting my interview accurately, and I will challenge her on the specificity of that, as I always do, after question time. She has not been proven to be factually correct on a single occasion to date. I know that there is a decline in the construction industry, but I can also confirm that there are 350,000 more jobs in our economy than there were in 1999, and that the household labour force survey statistics to which the member is referring are about not the number of jobs but the number of people within the labour market, which is quite a different statistic.
Why does the Minister not spend less time being slippery with the figures and more time thinking about how to help the people affected by the 11,000 job losses in the construction industry, the 6,000 job losses in the manufacturing industry, and the meatworkers who have lost their jobs today; does she agree that ordinary Kiwis expect her to spend a bit more time being focused on the future prospects of the people affected by these job losses, and a little less time indulging in singing silly songs; and is it not time that she stopped trying to cover up for the bad news, as well?
In stark contrast to the proposition in the member’s question, a number of people have contacted me following the said song being publicised and said “Don’t give up your day job.”, which is not what that member’s colleagues say about her.
They have got a day job! Following the challenge by the Minister, I seek leave to table the transcript of the Minister’s interview on Radio New Zealand on 9 May 2008, in which she made those statements.
I seek leave to table the Westpac bank’s report showing that 11,000 jobs have been shed from the construction industry.
I seek leave to table a Dominion Post article entitled “29,000” from the—
I seek leave to table a Radio New Zealand Newswire article entitled “Gloomy Dyson”.