9. Question No. 9—Social Development and EmploymentHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Deputy Leader—Labour) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 9—Social Development and Employment9. Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Deputy Leader—Labour) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she stand by her statement that We are focused on lifting New Zealand families out of hardship and giving them more opportunities to get ahead by helping all who can work into jobs"; if so why has the number of beneficiaries continued to rise across the country?Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Social Development and Employment): Yes. The Government has already delivered a range of measures to help people into work including requiring job seekers to have a work-focused appointment with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) inside their first two weeks on benefit and six months. Just last week we announced an additional 4000 18- to 24-year-olds will be case managed over the phone. The Budget Economic and Fiscal Update always forecast benefit numbers to rise until January 2025 and we acknowledge the current numbers are tracking slightly ahead of these forecasts. This is the result of challenging economic circumstances that we inherited. The economy has been weak for two years which inevitably means there are fewer job vacancies for those on welfare to move into. We remain committed to our target of reducing the number of people receiving the jobseeker benefit by 50000 over six years and we'll take further actions to make sure the welfare system is more proactive in helping New Zealanders into work.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: How can she claim that she's focused on getting beneficiaries into work when there are over 20000 more people on benefits since she took office?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: I'm really thrilled that that member is finally interested in benefit numbers given the six years she was in office there was a 51 percent increase in the number on jobseeker benefit. As I said we have two years of very challenging economic times. We are absolutely focused on ensuring that we support more New Zealanders into work. We're not going to wait until economic conditions improve we're doing the work now to ensure job seekers are ready when those jobs are there.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Is she concerned that only 297 jobseeker support recipients exited into work as reported in the most recently published weekly update—a worse result than even at the height of COVID?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said I'm always concerned about the number that are on the jobseeker benefit and on main benefits across the board. We are doing what we can. That's why economic recovery is job number one. Fighting inflation is job number two because we know New Zealanders are doing it tough and we want to ensure that jobseeker numbers come down. We have to recognise the economic conditions we are in today and the forecasts show unfortunately those numbers are due to get worse before they get better.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Why did she ignore advice from the Ministry of Social Development when she picked a 50000 reduction target for jobseeker beneficiaries rather than an exit into work target as was recommended by officials to her?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: Because I'm not just interested in those who are on the benefit today; I'm interested in the numbers who are coming onto welfare as well. If we are not managing the flow on to benefit we're not reducing the overall number of New Zealanders in hardship and I want to see more Kiwis off welfare and into work.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Is it the Minister's plan to achieve her target of 50000 people off the jobseeker benefit by simply sanctioning them until they leave?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: No. We are really clear that there are a number of steps that jobseekers need to take to improve their chances of finding a job. That's why we have work obligations. They're quite simple: have a CV turn up to a job interview take a job that's offered meet with MSD on a regular basis. Those are fairly simple things that will improve someone's chances of finding a job.Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Would she sanction someone who didn't show up to work with no explanation?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: We've been really clear about the fact that there are work obligations. We want to ensure that New Zealanders are getting off welfare and into work."