Stewart Barbara: Social Security Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Stewart Barbara: Social Security Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:636;Page:7200] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to support the Social Security Amendment Bill. For many years in this House we have heard about the need to refocus the whole social security system on work and employment. This legislation is an excellent opportunity to do exactly that. 
New Zealand First believes that social welfare must never become a trap for recipients that keeps recipients dependent on the State. The welfare state is a safety net a helping hand when it is most needed and not a lifestyle choice—and everyone in this House would agree. All of the research shows that families most thrive when adults are actively employed in the workforce. I think back to the numerous speeches that I heard from Dr Muriel Newman on this very issue when she was in the last Parliament. New Zealand First is very aware that the numbers of people on the unemployment benefit have steadily dropped and we must acknowledge the efforts of the Government in this particular area. 
There has been an increase of people on the invalids benefit and the sickness benefit; the numbers there have increased. Although we know that we have an ageing population one must wonder whether this increase is in part a result of decreased personal expectations the actual stress from not being employed and the lack of social interactions that results from unemployment. As has always been the case people with a terminal illness and people with a very severe disability or ill health on the invalids benefit are exempt from the planning or the activity requirements that are outlined in this particular bill. 
The emphasis in this bill is about getting the right services and the right support in place so that people’s opportunities for work are increased. We must applaud that direction. This is what is needed. People who are able to work should work. If they need additional support for a period of time it is far less expensive to provide that support than it is to provide the unemployment benefit for them. It means too that solo parents caring for their children can plan ahead for employment in the future. The longer one is out of work the harder it is to secure work. People should be assisted to ensure that they can develop work skills and be supported towards finding and holding down a job. Working adults are the basis of every society. 
I was interested to read the “sanctions” part of the bill. It is very clear that when people fail to meet requirements without good reason a sanction will be imposed. I believe that some training in this area may be necessary—even for some of those people employed by Work and Income. Last week I was approached by a young man who had gone into his local Work and Income office accompanied by his father to sign up for an unemployment benefit. He was just in ordinary working clothes and was he believed untidy. For the first time ever that he had gone into the office he was told that he had a job interview in the neighbouring city in 1 hour’s time. 
The young person believed that he was inappropriately dressed for the interview and he wanted to go home to change into more suitable clothes and to gather his thoughts. He thought that if he did that he would have a far better chance of making a good impression at the interview and getting the job—because he wanted a job. The young man’s request was considered basically to be a refusal to attend an interview. He was told he would have to stand down and was going to have a sanction applied against him. He was quite shattered and that was not quite the treatment that either he or his father believed was reasonable. It was the first time that he had ever applied for a benefit. However he went out and eventually found a job for himself so that he was not dependent on a benefit. 
In this bill there appear to be some changes to the services offered to 16 and 17-year-olds on the independent youth benefit. We must acknowledge that young people today face a far more complex and challenging social environment than past generations have faced. It is far more preferable for young people to be engaged in education and training so that they can obtain and hold sustainable employment rather than receiving a benefit at this point in their young lives. Any initiatives—all initiatives we should say—to ensure that these young people can be engaged in activities that will further their opportunities to hold down jobs are welcomed. Young people cannot be inactive for long periods of time and we are all very aware of the negative outcomes that eventuate from inactivity—mental ill health substance abuse criminal activity etc. Those are not things that we want to condone. 
Success in employment education and training is the most important way out of poverty for young people. This is a very important bill and it has some far-reaching changes. New Zealand First looks forward to hearing further discussion at the select committee. We support this bill.