9. HONE HARAWIRA (Leader—Mana) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
Does the Government’s policy announcement on Sunday regarding youth unemployment include plans to create large-scale, quality employment for youth in Aotearoa; if not, why not?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
This policy focuses on two main groups of young people, as we have discussed. Firstly, it focuses on those 16 and 17-year-olds who are completely disengaged, 90 percent of whom are at risk of ending up in the benefit system. These 16 and 17-year-olds, by virtue of the fact that they have left school early, are unlikely to be work-ready. The focus is clearly on getting them into education and training, so that they are able to get good jobs that will sustain them long term. Forty-three thousand new jobs were created last year. More are coming, so let us make sure that these young people are ready to take them up.
Does the Minister agree with the comment that policies that concentrate the wealth of the nation in the hands of the few, driving people into poverty and then penalising them for being poor, are the reasons behind the riots in London; and how long does the Minister think it will be before disillusioned youth in this country take to the streets like their mates in England have done?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
What we are doing is spending more money on those young people, because we see them as being valuable. We see them as having potential, and we want to realise that potential. That is actually putting the focus on them and making sure that we see that there are those kinds of employment and training opportunities. In fact, we are kind of making those young people valuable, because we are saying to a non-governmental organisation that we will pay it to actually take a special interest in them and connect them into that training and education.
Does the Minister agree with the comment that the Government does not have a policy on full employment because wide-scale unemployment enables it to push for greater cuts in the rights of unemployed youth; and how does she think that forcing young mothers off the benefit and into work will solve the problem of unemployment when there are no jobs and no plans to create them?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
No, I do not—not at all. I do believe that what we are currently doing with them is actually abandonment. We are saying to 16 and 17-year-olds, and 18-year-old teen mums: “Here is a few hundred dollars a week, and good luck out there.” I think we can do better than that. I take responsibility for them, and as such I will step up, put a focus on them, and make sure that we wrap the right kind of support around them.