Ngaro Alfred: Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ngaro Alfred: Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 17 July 2012. Volume:681;Page:3596. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ALFRED NGARO (National) 
: 
 I am honoured to take a call on the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill. I want to highlight a few points of the member Grant Robertson who was speaking previously. What concerns me is that he used the word “hope”. He talked about the fact that there is concern about the benchmark of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2. As a father of four children and as a member of a board of trustees for over 20 years I am concerned that I have seen what happens when you do not set an aspiration and a benchmark of achievement for young people. That is what concerns me about that member of Parliament. What he is actually saying to mums and dads in New Zealand is: “Don’t set your sights too high.” These are disengaged youth in what you would call the “too hard to deal with” basket. This is what they say: “Let us make it really simple. Let us not make it too hard.” 
Let me tell the honourable member over there—maybe because he has not actually worked with disengaged youth—a little story about how I worked with some disengaged youth a disengaged youth who did not have NCEA level 1 NCEA level 2 or NCEA level 3. He was on track for going into crime and into incarceration. His parents had given up on him and his community had given up on him. This is what we did with this young man: we set a benchmark of what he could achieve. I am happy to say that that young man through the support we have given him is now qualified as a carpenter. He is now working as a lecturer in carpentry and his department has said that in 2 years he could be head of department. Why? Because we did not dumb his expectations down. That is what this bill is about. [ 
Interruption 
] This is not about theory Mr Prasad; this is about reality. This is the reality that we are talking about. 
On 25 June this year I was at Robertson Road School and it was Leadership Week. At Robertson Road School I met with young people in years 7 and 8. The young man who met me at the school office was called Apec—that is right. He and I laughed a little bit. I asked whether his parents named him after Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and he said yes they did and he laughed. I said to him: “Young Apec what’s your dream?”. He said: “Mr Ngaro my dream is that one day I could become an accountant.” I went in to year 7 and year 8 and we talked about daring to dream and aspirations. You see Mr Robertson that is what this bill is about: aspirations with reality. 
It is also about this: it is about being responsible. This package of reforms balances obligations of support with new initiatives and a focus. 
Grant Robertson 
: From the heart not from the paper. 
ALFRED NGARO 
: Mr Robertson what this is also about is transformation. The word “transformation” means dramatic change. This is the thing: what this Government is committed to is dramatic change. Why? It is because the things that were always done have not always supported and helped our people. This is what we are doing: we have a youth package to help disengaged young people. It is about education training and employment. 
Grant Robertson 
: Just a few of them not all of them. 
ALFRED NGARO 
: We have talked about wraparound services. Well Mr Robertson obviously you have not been involved in wraparound services so let me give you just a few instances of wraparound services. It is not just a big hug like a Pink Batts ad; it is a reality of tough love and actual support services. That is what this is about. Again who are we talking about? We are talking about disengaged youth who need support who need help. This is what we are saying to them: “No we’re not going to leave you alone. We are going to help you with support on budgeting we are going to help you with support on parenting and we are going to help you with support on childcare.” That is what we are doing. That is what you call wraparound services. You see we have learnt from the eighties when the Labour Government tried it and it fell over. You need only ask the organisations of South Auckland about the eighties. It all fell over. Why? Because it was all cotton wool; it was all fluffy. This is what we have done. We have taken the learnings from that and we have made sure that we have got the support to have wraparound services that focus on that. 
What about a stronger work focus? That is what we are doing. This bill aims to change work availability and preparation requirements. This bill is also about saying to young people that it is not just about saying that yes we have heard the cries and the gnashing of teeth about these poor young women who were on the DPB and that what we were doing was oppressing them in terms of their ability to have young families—absolutely not. What we are saying to them is this. This is about a stronger work focus. That is what this bill aims to do. It is about changing attitudes. The honourable member over there Mr Sio talked about how he thought he heard—and he was wrong; it is in  
Hansard 
—the Minister for Social Development say that Maori and Pacific young people had this impression and this perception that they would be on the benefit. Absolutely not and we know that that is not the intent of the heart of the Minister or the intent of this party and this Government. In fact what it is Mr Sio is about saying this: “Lift your aspirations. Look for opportunities.” 
Let us give you another example because we are not talking about theory. Let us talk about Manaiakalani at Pt England Primary School over in Glen Innes. With regards to e-learning the young people there turned around and said: “We want to contribute. We want a focus that we too can contribute to just like our parents are.” An amount of $3.85 a week is what their parents contribute to help pay for their notebooks. These young people said that they could do the same too. So what did they do? They designed a programme about how they could be employed by the school in order to contribute. What did they do? They saw that there were a lot of visitors coming to the school and looking at the e-learning programmes so they said: “What if we made coffee and tea?”. They bought a coffee machine. They got trained as baristas. This is the wonderful thing: children as young as 7 and 8 are also changing the attitude. Why? Because it is about an attitude of work focus. It is an attitude of opportunity. Work is the means to an end that our young people are looking for. This is what we are talking about. These are the opportunities that we are offering as well. It is about addressing the concerns raised. 
What about the Privacy Act and the sharing of information? This is absolutely important. This is not about breaching privacy; this is actually about ensuring that the right information follows through with the young person so that they can be supported. 
This is a great bill. I stand here proudly as one who has worked in the social services worked in NGOs and worked in community-led development. This is a community-led development approach. Why? Because it puts the resources and the opportunities in the hands of the community for them to innovate a new response and to be able to develop programmes and initiatives—yes like the Otorohanga youth policy. You see the issue is this: it is not about redeveloping that programme or about Youth Transition Services and good practitioners know that; it is about the use of the practitioner and the skills that they have to truly make the difference. This is a great bill. It is making a difference in the lives of many of our young people and our families. I support this bill. Thank you.