11. Question No. 11—Workplace Relations and SafetyTONI SEVERIN (ACT) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and SafetyQuestion No. 11—Workplace Relations and Safety11. TONI SEVERIN (ACT) to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Does he agree with the advice provided to him regarding increasing the minimum wage this year that the impacts of the increase include lower job growth and reduced hours" and that "effects are most likely to impact some demographic groups such as youth Māori and women"; if not why not?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): No for two key reasons. Firstly since the economic forecast that that advice was based on the economic situation has dramatically improved. Unemployment is now down to 4.9 percent and benefit numbers are declining. Treasury's forecasts going forward are also improving. Secondly similar advice has been provided on minimum wage increases year after year and the actual result under this Government has been that we have been able to deliver improved employment outcomes for all of the groups mentioned in the member's question while also ensuring that people have a decent standard of living through good minimum wage increases.Toni Severin: Will increasing the minimum wage to $20 make it easier or harder to create jobs?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Given that unemployment today after a year of working through the global pandemic of COVID-19 is lower than in the so-called golden economic period of the National Government in 2016—Hon Member: What golden years?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: —I think that we have shown—the rock star economy remember and the unemployment rate today is lower than at that point with a higher minimum wage—that we can deliver good economic growth across the New Zealand economy while making sure that the lowest-income New Zealanders get a fair go. After a year of COVID we have learnt that it's the cleaners the orderlies the checkout operators and people in those roles who keep our economy going and it is time to stop undervaluing them. I find it extraordinary that people in this House who earn $180000 a year are not prepared to see those people get a fair income for the critical work that they do.Toni Severin: Does he agree with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) forecast that this year's increase to minimum wage will result in a restraint on employment of 9000 jobs; if not why not?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: No because as I've explained the advice year on year in this respect is that there might be a restraint on the number of jobs created but this Government has shown that consistently our policies are able to deliver lower unemployment for New Zealanders while also delivering good minimum wages. I also note the full scope of the advice provided by MBIE which notes: "In a study of evidence across 19 OECD countries it was found that there was no overall effect on total employment [through minimum wage increases]."Marja Lubeck: What is the Government doing to support workers who lose their jobs?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government has taken—SPEAKER: Order! Order! Order! We must have supplementary questions which relate to the primary question; that one doesn't.Marja Lubeck: I'll correct myself. What is the Government doing regarding this advice and that they are supporting the workers who are losing their jobs?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government has made a range of significant investments and policy initiatives over the last year to make sure that workers who are displaced by the effects of COVID-19 are reintegrated into the labour market and have their standard of living protected. Measures such as free trades training and apprenticeships—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. I think he has just proven my point.Marja Lubeck: What is the Government doing in light of the advice to support Māori women and youth into work?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government has a range of policies that are supporting Māori youth and women into work. I note that the original question did make the assertion that a higher minimum wage may compromise the ability of people in those groups to get into good and meaningful work. What we are proving through our mix of policies is that we can have a good minimum wage for workers—because we think that people in those occupational groups shouldn't have to live and subsist on wages that are below a level that sustains a good status and a good life—but at the same time we can bring in place measures that make sure that we deal with the long-term challenges of people in those groups who have lesser access to good quality employment. Measures such as those put in place by my colleagues the Hon Willie Jackson and Carmel Sepuloni are having a major impact—SPEAKER: All right all right all right. Thank you.Toni Severin: Why did the Government reject MBIE's recommendation to delay the level of increase and timing of this year's minimum wage increase?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Because this is a Government that carries through on the commitments that it makes at the election. Ministers in this Government take advice from officials but then make decisions consistent with our values—in this case our belief that minimum wage workers such as cleaners drivers and checkout workers deserve a fair go. That's what those workers will get under a Labour Government and they should be well warned that under a Government on that side there are potentially real wage cuts to the minimum wage coming because that is the policy of the member asking this question.Toni Severin: How will the increase in minimum wage help businesses like those in Queenstown and Wānaka who have stated that many will not survive over the next three months?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Amongst other measures a good minimum wage will allow as Henry Ford once said the workers who are employed under those wages to afford the products and services that are created by those businesses. Having a good minimum wage is actually one of the most important things that we can do to stimulate local economic activity. I note that the same Chicken Little predictions were made by that side of the House when the Government increased the minimum wage on 1 April last year and we have managed at this point of the economic cycle to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the OECD."