Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Speaker. The Government talks about this being a Budget of recovery and the member that just resumed her seat Barbara Edmonds said that this Budget—Budget 2021—would deliver 200000 jobs. I'm sorry; I can't see it. Every single employment initiative that Labour have introduced in the last four years has been a dismal failure. What the Government won't tell you—they'll talk about a $20 increase in the benefits and I accept that for those on benefits that's going to be a short-term benefit but what about the long-term impact? What about the long-term impact of a much greater number of people on the job seeker benefit?So at the moment close to 200000 Kiwis are on the job seeker benefit. The member who just resumed her seat would know how tough it is in one of those households so surely that member would also realise that the benefit system in and of itself isn't a pathway to prosperity. So what Labour is forecasting in Budget 2021 is an increase in the number of people on job seeker benefit. The Minister hasn't explained why there are 70000 more on job seeker benefit than there were four years ago—30000 more than pre-COVID—and what are we expecting in the next couple of years? This is a Government that's crowing about a Budget for recovery. In four years' time there will still be 174000 New Zealanders on the job seeker benefit. So something doesn't add up here. The 200000 jobs that they're saying they're going to deliver when they couldn't even deliver the 20000 jobs from the shovel-ready initiative that was meant to be a short sharp stimulus to support people to protect them—instead that delivered only 11000. So good luck. Good luck to Labour for the 200000 jobs they're promising.But actually I feel for the people that are stuck on the job seeker now because every single one of Labour's so-called employment initiatives have been an absolute disaster. Do you know who it's a disaster for? It's a disaster for the children that will be stuck in those benefit-dependent homes because we have seen under Labour not only an increased number of people on benefit but they're staying on it for longer. Do you know what that means? Well they won't tell you this: those people get stuck there—and they know this. If you connect someone to a job within three months they've got a much higher chance of being back in employment. Once someone has been out of employment for 12 months or more the ability to reconnect them to a job is that much harder.So what else will the Government not tell you? They won't tell you that they underspent $100 million on employment initiatives in the last 12 months. That is a disgrace. That is an absolute disgrace—$100 million from a Government who purports to be interested in people to be interested in lifting children out of poverty. Well where are most of those children? They're in benefit-dependent homes. Their income will be three times as much if they have a parent in work and their life outcomes evidence tells us—they know because they've got their heads down—the life outcomes of children who are raised in benefit-dependent homes who are stuck in those very households will be poorer educational achievement poorer health outcomes and poorer outcomes in general in their lives.So instead of having a Government that is ambitious for every single one of those job seekers we're seeing 200000 there now and if the big recovery is 175000 in four years' time goodness only knows the harm and hardship that side of the House is going to create because we're not seeing hardship going down and we're not seeing harm reducing. It's a Government that's causing it and shame on them.