Macindoe Tim: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Macindoe Tim: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:656;Page:5820] 
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
: 
 Three weeks ago the Prime Minister announced one of the most exciting and significant packages to assist and encourage our nation’s young people that has ever been seen. As the Minister of Youth Affairs Paula Bennett has just been alluding to it represents a total of 16900 new opportunities for New Zealand’s youth. Today I give credit to the Minister of Youth Affairs for the considerable amount of work that she put into developing this next phase in the Government’s rolling maul of measures to take the sharp edges off the very difficult and challenging recession that we are living in. As I am sure even members opposite will acknowledge we cannot ignore the conspicuous plight of our nation’s young people. 
As the Minister noted while wearing one of her other hats as Minister for Social Development and Employment young people are particularly hard hit by the shrinking job market in the current global economic downturn. In my city of Hamilton the consequences of youth unemployment are all too evident. Few sights are more depressing or worrying than young people out of school out of work and out of sorts. As a parent of teenagers I want to see my children and all our nation’s young people empowered to fulfil their potential. Alongside a stable and loving upbringing and a good education one of the greatest things we can and must give our young people is hope. So I was delighted this afternoon to hear of the initial success of these measures: over 500 employment offers have already been made in response to the Job Ops package and 251 community groups have registered their interest in providing and supervising opportunities under the Community Max scheme. That is a wonderful response so soon after the policies were announced and I look forward to hearing of further increases as awareness of the Government subsidies and incentives spreads. 
There is no question that the global economic downturn is forcing the Government to make some very difficult decisions and it will sadly continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Few members of society are not suffering some pain in the current economic climate but young people who are struggling to enter the workforce or to further their qualifications are particularly vulnerable. That is why this year’s Budget put such strong emphasis on enhancing educational and training opportunities and it is why the Prime Minister’s recent announcements and the unstinting efforts of the Minister of Youth Affairs since she assumed her responsibilities are so important in providing real hope and real opportunities to thousands of young people. It is worth repeating that the Job Ops package will inject $20 million into funding around 4000 entry-level jobs around New Zealand. The more of those that we see in Hamilton the happier my constituents local principals education providers youth workers Work and Income staff and others will be. 
Job Ops and Community Max are generous measures but they are also very astute investments and I know that they enjoy widespread support in my electorate and right around the country. I also have no doubt that the young people who take up these opportunities will benefit hugely and as a consequence so will the communities in which they live. The packages that this Minister of Youth Affairs oversees rely on a mutually advantageous partnership between the Government youth community groups and businesses. As we consider the appropriation for her department for the year ahead I urge the Committee to show its full support for the measures that have been announced and I look forward to news that they are having a very positive impact in these challenging times. 
Moving on to another aspect of the Minister’s portfolio I tell members that at any one time in modern New Zealand approximately 6000 children and young people are in State care or custody. Most of those young people come from deprived and often dysfunctional backgrounds. We do not sit in judgment; in fact in many instances we must acknowledge factors that undermine the health and quality of our society and that condemn our children to hardship dysfunction and abuse. But we cannot bury our heads in the sand nor ignore the plight of our most vulnerable young people for the consequences of doing so are devastating for those children costly for us all and often tragic as we know from some of the saddest criminal matters that have come before the courts in recent times. 
Vote agreed to.