Ardern Jacinda: General Debate 
Ardern Jacinda: General Debate 
[Volume:670;Page:16829] 
JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) 
: 
 This week it has all unravelled for the Government. This week we have seen that all the eggs the Government had in terms of an unemployment plan not only were few but also were broken. In the face of unemployment at 6.8 percent which represents 158000 people the Labour Opposition demanded from the Government a plan. Indeed the 158000 people in the dole queue demanded a plan. The 52000 people who have joined that queue since the Government came into office demanded a plan. The one in four young people—the school-leavers who have not even had a chance to enter the workforce—being left on the scrap heap because there are no jobs demanded a plan. We cannot forget the 12 percent of unemployed 20 to 24-year-olds which represents a good chunk of young graduates who have left university with skills that they are willing and wanting to use. They also demanded a plan because they too are waiting for work. 
What did we get in the face of those demands? First came the excuses. Every time the unemployment figures came out and shocked the Government just a little by increasing the Government claimed that figures tend to be volatile and to move around a bit. Second the Minister for Social Development and Employment Paula Bennett who is AWOL currently claimed that the unemployed just needed to take a positive attitude if they wanted to find work. Today we heard the Prime Minister claim that some people on the benefit are making a lifestyle choice in the way they exist. Finally at some point in the debate we heard the Government acknowledge the real issue that was at play: Kiwis want work but there are no jobs—there are no jobs. That is the real reason that 158000 Kiwis are currently seeking work. 
It is time that instead of making excuses the Government starts doing something about it. Our expectation was that after 2 years there would be a plan. What have we seen instead? We have seen a series of gimmicks. I do not use that turn of phrase lightly. At first there may have been some hope that something concrete could come out something like the Job Summit. We also saw the cycleway idea. I am the first to acknowledge that I do not have a problem with the concept of a cycleway. In and of itself I think it is a positive thing but it would never have been the answer and it has proven not to be the answer to a growing unemployment issue in New Zealand. In fact we have seen a grand total of 214 jobs created out of the cycleway. It is just not good enough. 
What was the other option the Government gave to us? It was a youth unemployment package: Job Ops and Community Max. The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research told us that the Government deserved a C on that package. Why? Because it would at best assist 8 percent of young unemployed people. 
What have we seen for the 8 percent of young unemployed people who have had some contact with those schemes? Well let us look at Community Max. Work and Income claimed it would be a chance to upskill young people and move them into jobs. At a cost of $100 million in total for Job Ops and Community Max I would have thought we could expect that at the very least. But when we scratch the surface what do we see? Some projects have delivered what it was claimed they would deliver; others have proven to be a dismal failure. If this was indeed a chance to upskill our young people why was Work and Income not checking that the subsidy it was giving to providers to train people was being appropriately used? The general public would expect that if we are spending $18000 to put fewer than six people into a job where text messages are being sent we would see some outcomes. What skills is a young person getting for a future career by sending text messages all day to defendants reminding them of court appearances? Absolutely none. If we are to spend over $300000 on a gardening project we should at least upskill the young people who are in that project. Instead we see half of them without jobs at the end of it. 
The Government has claimed that 70 percent of people on Community Max have not presented at Work and Income again or gone on to main benefits again. That is an absolute distortion of the truth. Seventy percent of people have not walked through the Work and Income door again but that does not mean they are employed. We know that 40000 young people in New Zealand are not in employment education or training. Community Max participants have joined that dismal number. Where is the plan?