Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7139] 
6.  
JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
 to the  
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: Does he stand by his statement that registered job seekers are “not being left to vegetate on benefits”; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
 on behalf of the  
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: On behalf of the Associate Minister the Hon Rick Barker yes. 
Judy Turner 
: If job seekers are not being left to vegetate on benefits why is an increasing number of people moving on to the sickness benefit—13000 in the last year—and is he concerned that of those people 55 percent more are claiming stress and 44 percent more are claiming depression as the reasons for transferring to that benefit compared with 2 years ago? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: It is worth noting that although 13000 people moved on to the sickness benefit 8700 of them moved back on to the unemployment benefit during the same period. The drivers for the sickness benefit of course are to do with the ageing workforce with the increased recognition and diagnosis of mental illness and with accident compensation and a range of issues like that. Of course the numbers have been increasing since the early 1990s. We are the first Government to do something seriously about that. 
Georgina Beyer 
: What progress has been achieved in assisting people to move from benefits into employment? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: We have had record progress. Record numbers of job placements have been made and the unemployment benefit number has dropped by over 30 percent since 1999 with unemployment now at its lowest level since 1988. That progress is thanks to a healthy labour market and excellent work by front-line staff in Work and Income. 
Katherine Rich 
: When work is now an optional part of Work and Income’s job seeker agreement work tests have been removed sanctions have been diluted and community schemes have been abolished how does he reconcile those comments and actions with the fact that some welfare recipients as described by the Associate Minister are “not being left to vegetate on benefits”? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Almost everything that member said is wrong. The work test has not been removed. People who are on the domestic purposes benefit now face more constraints than before. Work-for-the-dole was taken out because research by the previous National Government—the party the member belongs to—proved it was a waste of time just as Australian research has proven that. But I go back and thank the member for the opportunity to say once again that unemployment has dropped by 33 percent since this Government came into power. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: In the light of the research done by the Ministry of Social Development that shows that leaving sole parents to vegetate on the domestic purposes benefit damages children what is his response to new figures showing 1286 more people are now claiming the domestic purposes benefit than claimed it last year—supporting over 2000 children—especially given this Government’s relaxation of the need for those parents to find a job? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I am extremely extremely pleased that this Government passed legislation that means that people on the domestic purposes benefit now have more assistance to return to work and are not left on that benefit to be attended to only when their youngest child turns 6 and then 14 but rather now receive attention every day of the week. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Minister concerned that the latest figures for the Wellington region also show an increase in the number of sickness beneficiaries as the number of those on the dole declines and that that is a disservice to those at the coalface such as the director of the Downtown Community Ministry Kevin Hackwell who noted that what is quite concerning is the growing number of people claiming the sickness benefit? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I say to the member that one of the things she needs to remember is that we do live in a country with an ageing population and therefore like all countries we find the number of people eligible for benefits such as the sickness benefit tends to grow. But this is the first Government to take that issue seriously. We are concerned about it and we will see more and more action around that benefit. 
Judy Turner 
: Would the Government consider providing further guidelines to doctors who deal with sickness beneficiaries to allow them to give more detail about the way in which their patients’ incapacity affects their ability to work? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As the House will know the Government has allocated more money for research on the sickness and invalids benefit because we do want to understand some of the issues that lie around such matters as doctors putting people on to those benefits. Yes we would consider that kind of issue. 
Judy Turner 
: Will the Government consider making the system more flexible so that those on the sickness benefit are not automatically excluded from all work if their incapacity may allow them to undertake some tasks rather than keeping the dichotomy that exists at present between the dole and the sickness benefit with regard to the obligation to work? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: People on the sickness benefit can work now and we are exploring ways of ensuring the system is made more flexible so that they can undertake more work.