Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:12913] 
2.  
LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN (Labour—Mana) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: What initiatives is the Government putting in place so that by 2007 all 15 to 19-year-olds will be engaged in education training work or other options leading to independence? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 This morning I announced a $57 million package of further initiatives to achieve the target that the member is referring to. The six initiatives are a new transition service to support school leavers trialling career plans for year 10 students in 75 schools expanding the Gateway programme to all decile 6 schools by 2008 providing 500 more Modern Apprenticeships increased support for the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource and piloting the training incentive allowance being given to 200 teenage parents. 
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: What response has the Minister had to those new initiatives? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Those policies are all tried and true so it is no surprise that the Council of Trade Unions has welcomed the whole support package which it says will make a real difference for young people while the Industry Training Federation has said that the Government has announced a good package for young people. In the member’s own area where we launched the package Susanne Jungersen of Porirua College praised the Gateway programme initiative while Mayor Jenny Brash welcomed the package and indicated that her city was keen to participate. I would also like to thank Paul Adams of United Future for his positive comments and I am sure that every other spokesperson has a release coming out sometime during the day. 
Bill Gudgeon 
: What alternatives does the Government have in place to cater for the needs of those in the 15 to 19 age bracket who cannot cope because of the personal challenges they may have? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I thank the member for the question. In Budget 2003 the Government announced a package of $56 million which has gone to a wide range of initiatives from Modern Apprenticeships to the Gateway programme and to advice and support for young people. I think the programme this year is a major step up for that kind of support. For example the transition service is all about ensuring that no one falls through the cracks and that we have a coordinated approach to young people to ensure that whether it is with regard to health education or a job the services are brought together and tailored for their needs. 
Sue Bradford 
: How does this latest package—which is to be commended—match up to the Mayors Task Force for Jobs’ own key goal that by 2005 no young person under the age of 25 will be out of work or training; and is the Government looking to extend further assistance to that older age group? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Mayors Task Force for Jobs has been closely involved with the development of this particular policy. Yes it is committed to a goal that would take support through to the age of 25. We cannot commit ourselves to that until we have the resources but the member will know that there are other policies that are making a real difference to that slightly older group. For example industry training and the commitment to get 150000 people into training by 2007 will have a major impact on that group. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Do these initiatives include any specific plans to encourage more young women to take up Modern Apprenticeships in light of the fact that only 6 percent of the current uptake is female? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: These initiatives do not but we recently announced changes to the guidelines for the coordinators who will recruit Modern Apprentices which means that they have worked with us and with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner to look at ways to ensure that the take-up for young women in the traditional areas of apprenticeship is higher. 
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: What alternative approaches has he seen to meeting the needs of 15 to 19-year-olds? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have seen approaches that included the abolition of the Apprenticeship Act the undermining of careers funding and leaving students to make their study choices in an environment of rising fees. Those policies were tried in the 1990s. They helped to achieve a record unemployment rate of 23.6 percent for that target group and of course they were run by the then National Government.