11. Question No. 11—EmploymentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister of EmploymentQuestion No. 11—Employment11. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister of Employment: How many people are forecast to become unemployed as a result of COVID-19 and how many of those will be under the age of 25 if any? Hon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): The latest household labour force survey had the unemployment rate at 4 percent and prior to the COVID-19 outbreak this was one of the lowest rates in nearly a decade. This puts our country New Zealand in a strong position leading into what we now face as a rapidly evolving situation due to COVID-19. As the Minister of Finance said yesterday advice that we have had is that the effect of COVID-19 in terms of job losses will be greater than the global financial crisis when unemployment reached 6.7 percent. What we know is that this will have a significant impact on unemployment which is why yesterday the Minister of Finance announced the significant economic stimulus package to help cushion the blow. Hon Louise Upston: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I'd like an answer to the question that I asked. SPEAKER: Well I—the member is aware that she has no right to a specific yes/no or a particular number. The member is aware of the long series of Speakers' rulings in that area. Hon Louise Upston: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It's a primary question on notice and the tradition usually in this House has been accepted that a full and accurate answer and an answer that answers the question when it is a primary on notice is to be expected. SPEAKER: Yeah and what I'm telling the member is that it is also a long tradition in this House that answers aren't always as specific or as definite as members asking the question want them to be. I will however say that on occasion Ministers have pre-prepared answers which sound a bit like scripts to questions other than the ones that were asked. This one I'm not putting into that category or I would have ruled it out and I'm going to ask that the member if he's not in a position to give a specific answer to supplementary questions makes that clear early and not use it as an opportunity for point-scoring. Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The problem with this question is that there's nobody who's able to answer it because it's asking for the specific number of people. If it had asked for a percentage or a proximity to a percentage maybe the Minister could answer but there's nobody in this country with any intellectual integrity who would even try to answer a question like that. SPEAKER: Well I want to thank the member for his contribution. There's no point of order on the floor at the moment and I think the matter had been dealt with possibly slightly more gently by myself. Hon Louise Upston: Has the Minister asked for forecasts? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: I think the key point to make here is that there is significant uncertainty about how this will play out and any forecasts are likely to be inaccurate. So we are obviously talking about this but this is an evolving situation and what's important right now is that we provide certainty and support to employers and to workers and to communities. Hon Louise Upston: What is the Minister's plan to reduce the number of those who become unemployed as a result of COVID-19? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Sorry I missed that. Can you repeat the question? Hon Louise Upston: What is the Minister's plan to reduce the number of those who will become unemployed through COVID-19? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Well as has been said over the last few days we are working closely with communities right now—right now. On Friday myself Minister Jones and Minister Twyford will be going to the Tai Rāwhiti where we will be talking to the community and talking about deployment and talking about the problems that are happening at the moment. Also we have a significant programme in terms of schools and a skills-based programme that we're working on right now. Kieran McAnulty: How does yesterday's economic stimulus announcement support those under the age of 25? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: The announcement is the first stage of our response. We're focused on helping people—young people particularly—stay in work and in training. That's why the wage subsidy scheme was such a key feature yesterday. We're putting $5.1 billion in wage subsidies for affected businesses in all sectors and regions and 97 percent of New Zealand businesses have fewer than 20 employees—we must make that point again and again. This means the scheme will cover the workforces of over half a million businesses and we are continuing to look at what support we can provide for larger employers. It's important to remember that these businesses can access up to $150000 under the scheme. We've acted swiftly to give employers and workers some certainty and we're very pleased and proud of the response we've had so far. Hon Louise Upston: What is the redeployment plan? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: It's a plan that we're working on right now. As I said it's an evolving situation and it will all be revealed this Friday in the Tai Rāwhiti. The member is welcome to attend. Hon Louise Upston: Does the Minister still expect to achieve the 4000 Mana in Mahi places promised by the Prime Minister? Hon WILLIE JACKSON: We're obviously focused in on the crisis right now. Mana in Mahi is part of the kōrero part of the discussion. We remain focused on trying to achieve those numbers but we realise we're not going to kid anyone in the House today. We're in a crisis situation so everything—everything—is going to be tough over the next couple of years but we're focused in on that kaupapa still.