Dyson Ruth: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
Dyson Ruth: Supplementary Estimates — Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:618;Page:13802] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 It is a huge pleasure for me to be able to contribute to the debate on the Appropriation (2003/04 Supplementary Estimates) Bill this evening. The back of the Budget on 27 May was when the debate from National Opposition members became weaker and weaker. They became more and more depressed as they saw public understanding of the Budget and its implications seeping out. Exactly the same thing is happening now. In fact they are down to their sort of reserve list. 
We have seen the All Blacks do very well but that is because their top team was performing—with the exception of Andrew Mehrtens. Frankly he should have been there right from the start but that is another debate. That is what the National Party really needs to look at. However it has a problem putting up its top team because it does not have a top team in the House. Its top team is any other party’s “C” team and that must be pretty depressing. I can see the despondency in the face and the sadness in the eyes of the senior Opposition whip. He knows that when he tries to lift the morale of the team when he tries to get a good strong debate going in this House when Opposition members try to argue against what this Government is doing they fail. They are a total failure. The public has seen through their attempts as well. 
It is particularly a pleasure for me to speak in this debate about the social development aspects of the appropriation. They are the ones—although there are many other particularly good areas one could talk about—that I am mostly closely involved with in my portfolios. At the moment I have the privilege of acting as Minister for Social Development and Employment for my friend and colleague Steve Maharey. 
Social development is probably anathema to the poor old National Party opposite. Its members know only about social welfare. They know only about giving people benefits. They do not know anything about the Ministry of Social Development having a strong leadership position where it can constructively engage with families individuals and communities and make a difference to their opportunities and ability to change their future lives for the better. 
This is not about welfare cheques going out to people. It is about engaging with them and asking what the barriers are to better chances—whether education employment the need for a higher income or a chance to do a whole lot better with the quality of the paid work they are involved in. This is about social development. That is why this portfolio was built around the idea of social development and that is the big difference between the Labour-Progressive Government and National ACT and whoever else might like to prop them up in the future. 
Social development is about building a country where inclusion is the basis and where everybody is able to secure a job. We are not interested in very low-paid no-future-career-prospects jobs as the only option for people. We want people to have the opportunity to do better than that to get a good job to build a better life for themselves and their families. We want to ensure that they contribute not just to the economic well-being of our country and society but in their social life as well. It is better for them as individuals for their families our communities and the balance sheet of our country. 
The success of social development policies is pretty obvious. When one looks at the figures one can see the graph of employment opportunities rocketing up over the last 5 years and the unemployment figures trending downwards. We now have the lowest unemployment figures for I think the past 17 years in New Zealand which is just fantastic. In fact since 1999 there has been a 50 percent drop in the number of people on an unemployment benefit—that is something that everyone in this House should be celebrating—and a 21 percent drop in the number of working-age people on a benefit. 
As has been pointed out in other contributions on the employment area we have had an increase in the number of people on invalids and sickness benefits. That is part of an international trend and we know a little bit about it. This Government has said it absolutely knows what some of the barriers are to people on a sickness or invalids benefit who are moving from that benefit into paid work. Frankly there is very little of an attitudinal barrier. I work with a lot of people around our communities who are on a sickness or an invalids benefit. They do not ever say: “Look we love being on a benefit. Could we stay on it a little bit longer?” They say: “If we had the opportunity if these things were changed we would be able to get a paid job and we would like to be able to tell you to keep your benefit. We’d like to be independent. We’d like to know our own worth in terms of employment earning better money obviously and having some self-esteem and regard.” 
There is a value attached to people in paid employment and that is a good thing we have in New Zealand society. That is not of course to demean the quality of the contribution that people not in the paid workforce make in a variety of ways but for people who have the ability to get a paid job the obstacles they see in the way of not being left there are just a huge frustration. So we are focused on those obstacles; we have asked people what is standing between them and a paid job and offered to help them get rid of it. 
For beneficiaries on the sickness and invalids benefits a lot of the barriers were lack of access to support from the Department of Work and Income. There was not a lot of case-management and work-broker support available for CV applications or work experience preparation. Those very practical supports which were offered to people on an unemployment benefit were previously denied. That is changing and changing for the better so that people on those benefits now will be able to access the practical support that will help them get into the paid workforce. 
Also a number of people on those benefits do not meet the criteria for urgent surgery or other procedures in the public health system. Of course if they have been on a benefit for a while they are unlikely to have the sort of savings required for treatment under the private health system. We have said that we can help to ensure that people get those medical procedures—if we know it will make a difference and help them get into a paid job. For a lot of people that will be the answer particularly those on an invalids benefit. 
We found that the attitude and lack of understanding of employers has been a barrier. So another instigation has been that Work and Income will now deal directly with employers and say: “You have a huge potential here. You’re short of staff”—which is now a very common cry from employers. We are not saying that we are short of jobs; we are saying that we are short of staff. We have a large number of people who are able to do this work. They cannot get a job sometimes because of lack of understanding and sometimes because of the attitude of employers. If we can help employers with better understanding and of course tell them the practical ways they can get support as well I am sure that will help. 
We have huge potential for a greater contribution to our economy by making sure that the people who want to work and who are currently on a sickness or invalids benefit are getting that help. That is a critical part of the social development model. We are ensuring that people who have been neglected by our system for too long— people who felt undervalued and second-class citizens because they were denied the support to contribute in the way they wanted to—get that support. We are giving them better opportunities so that they can take charge of their lives improve the quality of it and support their families. 
We are also giving families a lot of very practical financial support as well. Family incomes and making work pay account for $2.372 billion over 4 years. That is going into the pockets of working families in New Zealand—people who for a long time have contributed day in and day out either in the paid workforce in their communities or in raising their families. They have found it hard to increase their quality of life because they have not been getting the additional support that this year we are able to give them under the Budget. 
The package is spread out over 4 years because we have to ensure that we do not literally blow the Budget. We are being very responsible because that is part of a Government’s activity. We have to make sure that our Budget is sustainable. People understand that. People in New Zealand are responsible and I am delighted that our package has been so well received because of that. We have ensured that people have more affordable housing and more help with childcare costs. We have changed the hardship assistance and we have also ensured that the very people who have felt neglected in the past get the direct practical and financial support they deserve. 
There are still a lot of social areas left to tackle. I am pleased to see some expansion of the Family Start projects that we have had running some expansion of social workers in schools and in ensuring that families and community support services are better supported within the Ministry of Social Development. This is an exciting package and it is a pleasure to have had the opportunity to contribute. I look forward to the progress of this bill.