2. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
How many more people were receiving an unemployment benefit in July 2010 than in July 2008?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
Due to a combination of the global recession and poor economic performance from 2000 to 2009, 42,513 more people were receiving the unemployment benefit in July 2010 than in July 2008.
Why did she wait 18 days to release to the Parliamentary Library the full summary of benefit figures for July; and was the reason for this that between July 2009 and July 2010, under her stewardship, 18,000 more people received a main benefit, 6,800 more received an unemployment benefit, over 400 more received an emergency benefit, the number receiving the independent youth benefit rose by almost 30 percent, and the number receiving the unemployment benefit student hardship rose by almost 85 percent?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I suppose I just question where the member has been for the last 2 years. This country has been going through the remnants of a global recession, and—
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not think I even need to say what it is.
Mr SPEAKERI think I can anticipate the point of order. The question asked why the Minister delayed releasing to the Parliamentary Library, if I recollect it correctly, certain benefit data. It then asked whether that was because of certain figures. The Minister can choose to answer either part of that question, but she should answer one part of the question.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I can assure the House that on average we have been more transparent than the previous Government was. Those numbers were sent to the Parliamentary Library sooner than they were under the previous Government, and that is something I insisted on when I first became the Minister. Turning to the increases that the member mentions, it should be no surprise that we are going through tough times. There are people who are looking for work and are unable to get jobs. During some of the best times between 2000 and 2009, we could have upskilled young people so that they could get into sustainable jobs, and we could have supported businesses more so that they were creating employment for people. Now we have a big job to do in turning the situation round.
Tim MacindoeHon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
In July 2008 there were just 2,496 new vacancies. In July 2009 that figure nearly doubled to 4,000, but in July 2010 a total of 5,116 new jobs came into Work and Income.
Why did she publicly release all monthly benefit figures to the Parliamentary Library in March, April, and May this year just 1 or 2 days after her press releases, but waited 16 days in June and 18 days in July, releasing them on a Friday afternoon, and why are they still not on the Ministry of Social Development website for all New Zealanders to see?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
As I have pointed out, we have been more transparent than the previous Government ever was in terms of making that information available. The member probably does not realise, because she spent so long as a Minister, that she has to do some of the work herself to find the information she might need. Reading the papers that come through might be useful, and then she might get the information that she is looking for.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I know that you heard my question, and it was pretty straightforward. She did not answer any part of it.
The member asked a question, indeed, and as I tried to listen to the question it was extraordinarily difficult to hear, because of the interjections from the member’s own colleagues. It was very noisy, and the Hon David Cunliffe knows exactly how much noise he was making. From what I could discern of what the Minister said, she did answer the question. The question asked why she did something, and there is never a precise answer to that, but I think the Minister did answer that question.
Is the reason she recently delayed the release of all monthly benefit figures explained in the headlines of her monthly press releases, given that in March she said “Benefit numbers decrease as expected”, in April she said “Unemployment rate falls”, in May she said “Benefit numbers remain below forecast”, in June she just said “Benefit figures released”, and finally in July she said “Benefit figures rise”?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Those sound to me like very honest press releases. They were put out in a timely manner and are there for everyone to read.
I seek leave to table the March, April, May, June, and July benefit numbers, which were released only to the Parliamentary Library, and have to be requested. They are not available to the public.
Leave has been sought to release that information. It is alleged that the information is not generally available to the public. Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is no objection.
Has she seen the media release from Statistics New Zealand that was released this morning, showing the annual decrease in actual jobs filled since the series began in 1999, and is that why she disagreed with the Prime Minister about New Zealand “aggressively” coming out of the recession?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Yes, I have seen that press release. However, I have also seen a report recently that said from 1987 to 1990, under the watch of Phil Goff and Annette King, the number of people on the unemployment benefit rose from 40,000 to a whopping 150,000—
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Clearly, it is desperation when the Minister, instead of answering—
No, no. The member will resume his seat. He cannot start a point of order by accusing another member of an act of desperation. That has nothing to do with order. I will be very courteous to the member and listen, as long as it is a point of order.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
It goes to the issue of misrepresentation. Rather than the Minister responding directly to the question that the member raised, she is instead going back several generations to a time probably before she was born—
No, no. The member will resume his seat. I extended to him the courtesy of listening to a point of order that was not a point of order, and that was my own silly mistake.
Jacinda ArdernWhat initiatives has her Government specifically designed for the more than 41,000 young people who are not in training, education, or employment, and who are not on an unemployment benefit; how many young people does the Minister estimate those initiatives will assist?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
To be clear, the primary question actually asked about the unemployment benefit, and now the member is mixing that up with the household labour force survey—as she often does. To be clear, on the unemployment benefit—
That is not helpful to the order of the House. I must admit that I heard what seemed to me to be a rather different question, so because I am now a little confused about it I will invite Jacinda Ardern to repeat her question.
What initiatives has her Government specifically designed for the more than 41,000 young people who are not in training, education, or employment, and who are not on an unemployment benefit; how many young people does the Minister estimate those initiatives will assist?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I quite proudly stand up on behalf of this Government and talk about the Youth Guarantee that the Minister of Education has introduced, and about the difference that that is making for those young people. I would like to talk about Youth Training, and how that programme is being turned round. We are seeing it go more directly to those young people who need it. I also stand up on the Training Opportunities Programme, which this Government has spent a lot of time on—
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I specifically asked whether she could give the number that that initiative would assist.
No, no—I do not need any assistance on this one. The member, perhaps unwisely, asked about the initiatives that the Minister has implemented to deal with those numbers—
—members should not exchange interjections—and the Minister answered on exactly that. She outlined the initiatives that she has been pursuing to deal with that issue. She does not have to cover all aspects of the supplementary question that was asked.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
We have been specifically looking at 16 and 17-year-olds as being a key focus for this Government. I cannot give the member the exact number, because there are so many that we are reaching for with that focus. We saw, for the 10 years in the early 2000s, that the Government was not even identifying who or where those young people were, let alone providing services for them—
The House is being very noisy and it is very hard to hear, but I believe that the member asked a commendably direct question. I do not think that it contained any political statement. If I recollect the question correctly, it was about how many young people have been assisted by the initiatives that the Minister outlined in her answer to the previous supplementary question. I fully accept that the Minister may not have that information, given the primary question, but I think the House deserves to hear the answer. If the Minister does not have the information, that is fair enough.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I do not have the exact number, but I will say many, many, many. I would like to add, though—and I think that the Opposition will be interested in this—that we need to recognise that those young people were not even looked for through the early 2000s. No one looked for where they were or worked out how to get to them, in order to put them into the right kinds of services. That has been something that this Government has been concentrating on and putting a lot of effort behind.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. To support your previous ruling that the Minister should attempt to give an answer in response to a very straight and succinct question—
No, no—the member is going on far too long; that is not a point of order. The member will resume his seat. The Minister acknowledged that she did not have that particular information, and one has to accept that that is not unreasonable, given the primary question. The primary question asked how many more people were receiving an unemployment benefit. The supplementary question had moved beyond that. It did relate to unemployed people, but it related to employment initiatives for young people. It is understandable that the Minister may not have that particular information with her in the House, given the primary question. I think it was a perfectly reasonable answer. As for what followed it, though, I confess that with all the noise in the House, I could not hear exactly what followed that.
Catherine Delahunty Link to this
Tēnā koutou katoa. How many people, if any, have been stood down from receiving an unemployment benefit after having their employment ended during a 90-day trial?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I do not have that number in front of me. It certainly has not been coming up.