Beaumont Carol: General Debate 
Beaumont Carol: General Debate 
[Volume:652;Page:1639] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 I want to start by acknowledging the Government for the recent Job Summit and for the hard work of those who participated. I note that the summit included people like leading unionist Andrew Little whom a Government Minister described as a “loony leftie”. I also note many key people were left out of that summit. In respect of the contribution earlier from the Minister of Women’s Affairs the Hon Pansy Wong I note that only 35 of the 200 participants were women—just 35! How can that be so when women will be disproportionately represented by those damaged by this economic crisis. I ask the Minister why she failed to turn up recently to the Pacific Allied (Women’s) Council Inspires Faith Ideals Concerning All (P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A.) annual general meeting. What is she doing as Minister of Women’s Affairs I wonder. The real test for all of us now is to see there is real action arising from the Job Summit and for the Government to implement practical measures that make a real difference for people. We are ready and willing to work with the Government in the best interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders. 
One area that needs a great deal more attention is support for investment that will not only provide jobs and improve infrastructure but also lift the skills of our workforce. I am sure nobody can disagree with that statement. Rising unemployment—tragically for hundreds of people daily—will disproportionately affect those New Zealanders with low skill levels or very narrowly focused skills. Prior to the current economic crisis there had been a great deal of focus on the skills needs of New Zealand and New Zealanders and there is no doubt of the need for lifting our skill levels and creating a culture of lifelong learning for individuals families workplaces communities and our country as a whole. There will be undoubted improvements in productivity improvements in employment security for workers improvements in wages and improvements in people’s ability to participate in their community. Unions business the Industry Training Federation and the previous Labour Government worked very constructively to agree on the New Zealand Skills Strategy. That is a comprehensive plan that the Government seems to know very little about. It is a plan that looks at issues like the link between skills and productivity the need to address literacy and building the capability of firms to support workers and managers in lifting skills. Again the Government seems not to have knowledge of this. Members opposite should all take the time to have a look at the strategy and then implement it. 
The Job Summit itself had two key areas that focused on upskilling. The first is to retain and upskill people—the 9-day working fortnight idea. The second is to keep people in education and to create jobs through training and education. But the worry seems to be the significant back-peddling by the Government on the issue. I noticed on  
Morning Report 
 today Bill English was back-peddling from the idea of providing any support for workers for the 10th day of a 9-day working fortnight. It seems like the burden will be carried solely by workers. That is extremely disappointing because low-paid workers especially are most in need of upskilling and they cannot be expected to bear the cost of doing this work by themselves. They are willing to play their part but so too must employers and so too must the Government. 
This response to the terrible economic situation we are facing is not only a necessary short-term response but is an investment that will position this country for a future that would have social and economic prosperity arising from higher skills and a more skilled workforce. The Government would be negligent not to grab the opportunity to invest heavily in skills; the benefits from that investment will flow to us all. I urge it to consider picking up the skills strategy and to look at the idea—promoted by the Labour Government prior to the election—of a retraining allowance. That allowance had a very positive initiative to ensure that those who were made redundant could retrain.