Macindoe Tim: Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Macindoe Tim: Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 17 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3582. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on this part of the debate because I care so passionately about those underlying principles of this bill the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. In fact I care passionately about this issue and I feel so strongly that it is the right thing to do. I want to look just at a few of the comments that we have heard already from Miss Ardern. We had concern expressed that somehow imposing work testing on young people who are the focus of this bill is inappropriate or unreasonable. I want to suggest to her— 
Jacinda Ardern 
: I didn’t say that. 
TIM MACINDOE 
: That was the focus of your initial comments Miss Ardern. I struggle to understand why the Labour Party—the modern Labour Party—would in any way oppose such an arrangement as work testing. At least Miss Ardern did not use that word “punitive” which has been thrown at us in previous stages of this debate over and over again. Miss Ardern gave us a deeply theoretical approach and I listened to it with some interest. But she was largely imagining problems that might occur at some future date rather than focusing on the overwhelming problems that confront us right now which this bill is all about. This bill is much more than simply about “tweaking systems”—I think that is a phrase that she also used. It is about confronting major challenges setting out clear expectations and providing substantial determined and wide-ranging support to those who are currently caught in the trap of long-term welfare dependency and especially as the Minister for Social Development emphasised those who are at the beginning—standing right on the cliff; about perhaps to lurch down that path. 
Those young people need our support. This bill is all about providing that support. It is one of the reasons why I care so much about it. The Minister when she spoke told us about the reality of life for those young people who have been the primary focus of much of what is in this part of the bill. She acknowledged that yes it is very expensive confronting those challenges. In the Budget a substantial sum of money has been committed to dealing with it. But the cost of not doing so is almost beyond calculation. It is measured just as much—if not more—in human terms as it is financially. That is why we must not shy away from what needs to be done. The Minister’s approach is determined it is realistic and it is compassionate because she is not being soft or naive. It is because she wants so much better for these young people. 
When I read Part 1 of this bill I see provisions that are practical and contemporary. They are measures to confront life as it is for far too many people in my electorate and in our communities right around the country. They assert—as this Government does and as I am proud to do—that we can and must do so much better if we are to guide our vulnerable youth into further education and training positive parenting effective budgeting and so much more. I believe that that determination is understood and supported in our communities. When I am out and about talking in my electorate meeting with people in low-decile areas with social services providers and with various agencies they are not telling me: “Turn back you’ve got this wrong.” By and large those at the coalface are saying: “Yes this needs to be done; thank you for finally confronting a challenge that has been overlooked for far too long.” 
They are not flooding our offices with emails and phone calls saying that this is wrong. In fact it is quite intriguing to note how little opposition there has been to date. We thought this was going to be controversial. Of course we encountered at the Social Services Committee some objections but by and large it is not controversial out there. It is not controversial out in our communities because the public know this needs to happen. The objections have been few and far between and as I say those who work with vulnerable youth at the coalface know that we need to support their efforts and the young people they work alongside. But I did listen to Miss Logie. None of the concerns that Jan Logie spoke of in respect of education or refugees’ experiences and so on negate the value of the measures in this bill. I did listen carefully but I simply cannot comprehend how she could conclude that this bill undermines the human rights of those it is designed to assist.