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Benefit System—Management

Thursday 11 August 2011 Hansard source (external site)

Bakshi11. KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment

What steps has the Government taken to manage gateways between benefits?

BennettHon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this

We have ensured that the gateways between benefits have been tightened through better management of the benefit system. This is all despite a global recession. In 2004 the net flow of people going from the unemployment benefit to the sickness benefit was 5,963 people. In 2011—

SmithMr SPEAKER Link to this

I apologise to the Minister, but the member asking the question has a right to hear the answer. The Opposition has been commendably brief in its interjections today, but on this occasion the interjections are unreasonable.

BennettHon PAULA BENNETT Link to this

I will start again, Mr Speaker. We have ensured that the gateways between benefits have been tightened through better management of the benefit system. This is all despite a global recession. In 2004 the net flow of people going from the unemployment benefit to the sickness benefit was 5,963 people. In 2011, for the first time in over a decade, it was negative 712. Not only has National halted the flow but also we are now seeing more people transfer from the sickness benefit to the work-tested unemployment benefit, and that is a good thing.

BakshiKanwaljit Singh Bakshi Link to this

How has the Government’s better management of the benefit system—

SmithMr SPEAKER Link to this

I apologise to Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, but it is not fair to a colleague who has been called to ask a supplementary question if front-bench members continue to interject. It is rude. It is certainly not good enough.

CosgroveHon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this

We weren’t sure who he was, Mr Speaker.

BakshiKanwaljit Singh Bakshi Link to this

How has the Government’s better management of the benefit system impacted on the overall number of those on the sickness benefit and invalids benefit?

BennettHon PAULA BENNETT Link to this

In the 2000s we did see the number of people on the unemployment benefit decrease, but the number of people on both the sickness benefit and the invalids benefit increased by about 50 percent. Yes, we have seen an increase in the number of those on the unemployment benefit over the last 3 years, but we have not hidden the numbers or simply transferred people to another benefit to make ourselves look better, like Labour did when it was in Government.