Blue Jackie: Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Blue Jackie: Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to speak to the first reading of the Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill. This bill will provide for differing levels of minimum wages for youth and other workers. National will be opposing this bill. We do not feel that it is helpful in keeping the focus on growth and growing the economy which is needed to create jobs and which this Government has made a top priority for this year. That will be crucial going forward. Getting the economy right is absolutely fundamental and the rest will follow. I agree with the Hon Trevor Mallard’s argument that we need to be a high-wage economy. Importantly this Government is focused on keeping youth in education or training and we have introduced a number of measures to achieve the same. This Government is committed to giving youth every opportunity to achieve and meet their potential. We value our young people. 
We know that not every young person is suited to mainstream education and that is why the Government is committed to opening trade academies. These are a key part of our Youth Guarantee policy and they will keep more students engaged in learning. They will provide more career choices for 16 and 17-year-olds and give them greater opportunities to develop their knowledge skills and talents through trades and technology programmes. National’s Youth Guarantee is about creating thousands of places at tertiary and training institutes across the country to help 16 and 17-year-olds to stay engaged in learning. We know that the longer youth are engaged in learning the less likely they are to fail in life and the greater the chance that they will be in work and be productive. We want to see every young person succeed and reach his or her full potential. 
This Government is committed to giving young people the opportunities they need to succeed. Yes we know that young people have been hit hard by the recession and there are a number of reasons why we have a recession. Our Job Ops package has proven to be hugely successful. Job Ops is about backing businesses that create work opportunities for young people. We asked firms to provide up to 4000 young people with an entry-level job for at least 6 months. The Government paid a $5000 wage subsidy for each placement. Job Ops is about giving incentives to local businesses that hire low-skilled under-24-year-olds for 6 months. It was such a successful programme that an extra 2000 places were announced in February this year. 
Community Max another policy has also been very successful. Community Max is about inviting local councillors mayors community groups and iwi to play a role creating up to 3000 work opportunities. We wanted community organisations to come to the Government with local projects that could employ young people and engage them in our communities. The Government paid the minimum wage for 30 hours a week for up to 6 months a training payment and for one supervisor for every four participants. Those 3000 places have now been filled. National believes that every young Kiwi should be able to find his or her way on to the path to success. We are concerned that for young people starting out in their working lives a long period of unemployment could be very damaging. We know we cannot afford to leave young people languishing on a benefit and risk diminishing the potential of an entire generation of Kiwis. That is why the Government has been proactive in keeping our young people in work education and training. 
National has not seen any evidence to show that young people are losing their jobs because of youth rates. We are not convinced that this bill will reduce youth unemployment. We should be focused on growing the economy and providing opportunities and jobs for young workers. This Government is doing exactly that. Thank you.