9. Question No. 9—Social DevelopmentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 9—Social Development9. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development: Why are there 15507 more people on the jobseeker support benefit than there were in September 2017?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): The recent increase is primarily driven by population growth and a reduction in growth for some industries where historically Ministry of Social Development (MSD) clients have often gone into. We have very low levels of unemployment and in a tight labour market employers want skilled workers. That's why we're focused on training and upskilling people on benefit. For those that may need help MSD is committed to giving them support both financially and through assistance into appropriate upskilling and employment so they can achieve the best long-term outcomes for them and their whānau.Hon Louise Upston: Why has there been a 17 percent increase in people aged 18 to 24 on the jobseeker benefit in the last year?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Putting it into context there's also been a reduction of young people coming in on the youth payment. What we need to put in perspective here is that young people are as affected as others. So therefore if population growth is a factor and the softening in some particular industries is a factor then that of course is going to have an impact on their employment rate as well.Hon Louise Upston: Why are there 710 people in Tauranga who've been on a jobseeker benefit for more than 12 months when there are 841 jobs currently advertised on TradeMe?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Many of the jobs being promoted are requiring upskilled people and that is why we as a Government are focused on upskilling and training. It's unfortunate that there wasn't as much of a focus under the previous Government otherwise we wouldn't have been in this situation. Programmes like Mana in Mahi that are targeted towards young people that will support them into employment opportunities that are meaningful for them will provide them with the opportunities that they need to go into employment.Hon Louise Upston: Does she agree that there's a clear link between the increase in jobseeker beneficiaries and the decrease in sanctions her Government has applied for unfulfilled work obligations?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I've been advised that there is no link that the two reasons that I gave at the beginning are the primary reasons with regards to the fact that population growth is a factor and also the softening in some areas where our people would've traditionally gone into. We are focused on upskilling and training people who come through the welfare system and making sure that they are matched up with meaningful and sustainable job opportunities for them. We don't want to see the churn of people going off and then back on benefit that was experienced under the previous Government.Hon Louise Upston: When is she changing the name of the jobseeker benefit if her Government isn't requiring people to turn up for interviews?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: We are working hard with New Zealanders who come through the welfare system. It is disappointing that under the previous Government there was a diminishing amount of support for people who were unemployed to be able to take up work opportunities. In fact at the last Budget New Zealand would be aware that we invested so that we have 263 more front-line staff focused on work so that we can support New Zealanders into employment. That's alongside other initiatives like the Oranga Mahi programme where we've injected an additional $26 million to particularly support disabled people into employment. I want to make a note of that given that we know that 53 percent of those that are in the welfare system either have a health condition or a disability of some sort or are caring for a person with a health condition or disability of some sort. We want to support them into employment and that's what this Government's doing.