8. Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
Does she stand by all her statements?
Hon Nanaia Mahuta Link to this
Given her statement that “Community Max has been a great success”, why has she not extended that programme instead of cutting it, when by doing so, she will leave people out of work and no better off because her Government has not created any jobs?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I certainly do stand by Community Max. It has been a fantastic programme. In fact—[ Interruption]—Sorry, does the member Carmel Sepuloni not agree that it has been a fantastic programme? That is all right. So it is not a fantastic programme, so Labour members do not like Community Max, so Labour members do like Community Max—they cannot quite make up their minds on it. They want us to extend it, but they think that it is not any good. It gets a bit—
Hon Nanaia Mahuta Link to this
I seek leave to ask the question again, because she is clearly not answering it.
Mr SPEAKERNo, I do not need assistance on this matter. If the member had not added the last statement in her question it might have been treated a little differently. We have heard enough answer to that question. Does the member have a supplementary question?
Carmel SepuloniWhat target has she set for reducing youth unemployment, particularly for the 37 percent of 15 to 19-year-old Māori boys who are not currently in education or in employment; if no target has been set, how can she possibly stand by her statement: “We want every single one of them to be engaged in education, training, or employment.”?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I think the member just answered her own question: it is that we would like every single one of them to be engaged in education, training, or employment.
Before we go any further, I ask the Minister to answer the question again. Because of the interjections going across in front of me I just could not hear that answer. I ask the Minister to start that answer again.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Certainly, Mr Speaker. What I was saying was that I thought that the member answered the question herself when she said “I would like to see every one of them engaged in education, employment, or training.”
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question asked whether she had set a target with regard to reducing youth unemployment. She did not give me an answer with regard to that. I would like an answer please, Mr Speaker.
Before we get into an exchange of points of order, I say that if the member had asked just that question we would have got an answer to it. But there was a whole lot more stuff in the member’s question that the Minister picked up on. The remedy lies in the member’s hands. If she had asked just that question I would have done my best to help her get an answer to it. But I cannot insist on the Minister answering a particular part when there is a whole lot more in a question.
Hekia ParataDoes she also stand by her statement to a select committee yesterday that “We have invested an extra $285 million in responding to the recession.”?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Yes, I do. A large proportion of that money went to young people. Of that $285 million, $91 million was spent on young people. That delivered 1,200 job opportunities, more than 3,000 Community Max places, and 2,500 places on the Limited Service Volunteer programme. A figure of $17.4 million went to the Job Support Scheme, helping to save jobs. A figure of $17.5 million was given to ReStart. There was extra employment assistance of $12.6 million. There were summer jobs for students. Of course we set aside $104 million to help non-governmental organisations ride out the recession.
I apologise to the honourable member. I just ask Government backbenchers on this occasion to be reasonable with interjection levels; I cannot hear the question.
Hon Nanaia Mahuta Link to this
Will the Minister continue to go down the track of short-term training schemes like Job Ops, when young people want to work but there are no jobs, or is she developing these sound-good schemes to make her statistics look good?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
To give the House an update on where we are at with job opportunities, I tell members that we have 5,656 young people on Job Ops at the moment. Of the number who have completed their Job Ops at this time, we have seen that 94 percent of them have not gone on a benefit—94 percent of those who finished Job Ops have not gone on a benefit. I think that is fantastic. Yes, we will back it.
Jacinda ArdernIf the Minister’s target is that 100 percent of young people are in training, education, or employment, will she concede that she is failing, on her own measure, given that 60,000 young people are not?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
Obviously I am not the Minister of Education. I am also not the Minister for Tertiary Education, who actually plays a part in that. I am a Minister who is part of a team that is directly focused on our young people, and that is making a real difference in their lives, leading to real jobs and real opportunities.
Hon Nanaia Mahuta Link to this
I seek leave to table an article showing young people who were on Community Max, but who are now out of work and not able to get a benefit.