10. Job Creation and Unemployment—Inequality Unemployment Rate and Young People Not in Employment Education or TrainingHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of EmploymentJob Creation and Unemployment—Inequality Unemployment Rate and Young People Not in Employment Education or Training10. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Employment: Does he stand by all of his statements?Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): Yes generally and in the context that they've been made.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What did he mean by his statement in the Manukau Courier yesterday For me the real indicator of how successful we will be in helping New Zealanders get into work isn't the unemployment rate—it's actually the inequality rate."?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I think that's pretty self-explanatory and I can't help it if the member of Parliament on the other side doesn't understand the article. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Is this a supplementary?Hon Paul Goldsmith: No—well I was pausing before raising a point of order while you were thinking.SPEAKER: Well I'm not going to react to the five or six interjections. I was trying to decide whether the question had been addressed and it certainly had.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Can he tell House why he thinks New Zealand has the lowest unemployment rate in 10 years?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Well this Government has done really well in the last few months. And in the last three months this Government has been able to achieve what that Government couldn't do in nine years.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he stand by his statement on Newstalk ZB regarding youth not in education employment or training: "These young people are tarred because some of them you know—their fathers are not in education employment and training. They need to get a bit of work to start off. Some of them are not ready for work. We give them pastoral care we give assistance and we do wrap-around programmes. They may need three to six months of training. They might do a job and leave the following week or a few days—not good just starting on a job; they finish the next week or they start missing days."; if so why is he supporting the removal of 90-day trials which have encouraged employers to take a chance on exactly these people?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I know the member doesn't have any chance in terms of the future National Party leadership but the reality is I stand by all the comments I made on Newstalk ZB. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Minister when he focused on the issue of employment being more an equity issue does that mean that this Government is against the slave-trafficking and cheap wages and Third World conditions that the previous Government was condoning?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Yes I absolutely concur with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This Government is determined to address the inequities that the last Government left and we'll look after the regions we'll look after Māori we'll look after women. We're happy with 4.5 percent but we can do a lot better.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just ask that you might have a look at that supplementary question asked by the Rt Hon Winston Peters. If that was set down as a primary question it couldn't stand because it can't be in any way substantiated whatsoever. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Mr Speaker—Hon Gerry Brownlee: No I'm still speaking. We have a question being asked that is purely speculative but then a Government Minister is allowed to respond on it when there was no responsibility that could be attributed to the Government Minister in this case. Rt Hon Winston Peters: There was a report out just days old now talking about the people-trafficking in this country where employment was concerned. I would have thought every responsible New Zealander would have been alarmed by it but apparently it's only on this side of the House that that's happening.SPEAKER: Can I just say to Mr Brownlee—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Just no—I would like to speak to the point of order because a serious allegation has been made. The reality is that there would be no knowledge of that particularly unsavoury practice if in fact it were not reported and dealt with. SPEAKER: I think going to the original point of order one of the problems for any side of the House with a question that says "Does he stand by all of his statements?" for the very reasons that the Opposition has asked it—because they want it to be wide and ask anything—it does leave the ability on a supplementary for Government members to do the same. I think that's what the right honourable Deputy Prime Minister was doing.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I go back to what I asked for in the first place which was that you have a look at it because—SPEAKER: I certainly will.Hon Gerry Brownlee: He did not ask a question in relation to the Minister's statements; he presented the Minister with a statement and asked for a comment—quite a different thing.SPEAKER: I will look at it. Angie Warren-Clark: What is the Minister doing to address the needs of young people who are not in employment education or training?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Rangatahi unemployment is a key focus for this Government. I announced a few weeks ago the allocation of $13.27 million under the He Poutama Rangatahi initiative to support communities within four regions—Te Tai Tokerau Eastern Bay of Plenty Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke's Bay—to help connect young people to real jobs: jobs with dignity identified by employers and those communities.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Regarding young people not in employment education or training is it still his view that mainstream schools have been failing Māori students and "Why would you not want an alternative that can support and help our children fulfil their own dreams and aspirations?"Hon WILLIE JACKSON: There's no doubt that a few mainstream schools have failed our students but in the main we're doing a pretty good job out there. This Government is prepared to hear the concerns of our people out there but first and foremost prioritise tamariki—children.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Regarding young people not in employment education or training is it still his view that we need to innovate in education both in schools and at the tertiary level; and if so why is he supporting shutting down charter schools?Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I support the Government and our education initiatives. I'm a person who's been intimately involved in charter schools and I've seen the strengths and sadly there's a few weaknesses that we have to address. When schools have to come up with a million dollars and become entrepreneurs and businessmen they're not the types of schools that this Government will support."